Russia military chief slams missile "provocation"

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's military chief of staff on Thursday described Georgia's accusation that a Russian military aircraft had violated its airspace as a "provocation against Russia", Itar-Tass news agency reported.

"I am convinced that this is a provocation on the part of Georgia ... it is a provocation against Russian peacekeepers and Russia as a whole," Tass quoted Yuri Baluyevsky as saying.

The comments follow denials from Moscow that a fighter jet dropped a missile in a field close to a village about 65km (40 miles) from the Georgian capital Tbilisi on Monday evening. The missile did not explode.

Baluyevsky drew a parallel between the future of Serbia's Kosovo province and two Georgian breakaway regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which are seeking international recognition as independent states.

"Georgia at the moment is in a state of confusion, because if the Kosovo problem is settled by giving Kosovo sovereignty, then Georgia could lose Abkhazia and South Ossetia," he was quoted as saying.

Tbilisi has described the missile incident as an "act of aggression" by Russia. It is requesting a special meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the matter.

Russia has denied its aircraft had anything to do with the missile. Its officials have suggested Georgia may have dropped the missile itself to provoke tensions with Moscow.