Ethnic cleansing of Georgians in South Ossetia let anybody in here anymore". "The Economist" also quoted a South Ossetian intelligence officer as follows: "We burned these houses. We want to make sure that they [the Georgians] can't come back, because if they do come back, this will be a Georgian enclave again and this should not happen". Ethnic cleansing of Georgians in South Ossetia Ethnic cleansing of Georgians in South Ossetia was a mass expulsion of ethnic Georgians, which was conducted in South Ossetia and other territories occupied by Russian and South Ossetian forces, which happened during and after the 2008 Russia–Georgia war. The Human Rights Watch
Russia–South Ossetia relations would become part of Russia within "several years", but later retracted the comments in an interview with Interfax and stated that he may have been misunderstood, and that South Ossetia would not give up its independence. Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov, whilst in Warsaw, denied that South Ossetia would join the Russian Federation. Lavrov's position was also mirrored in August 2009 by Dmitry Medoyev, who stated that "South Ossetia will be building an independent state". On 17 September 2008, Russia and South Ossetia signed a treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance at the Kremlin in Moscow. According