 Reuters reported that South Ossetian officials claimed that fighting on the southern outskirts of Tskhinvali had ended at about midnight.According to South Ossetia, 12 Georgian tanks were destroyed on the outskirts of Tskhinvali.Alexander Lomaya, Secretary of National Security Council of Georgia, had said conflict began because Russia aimed to "thwart its neighbors’ movement toward Western society and Western values", adding "If the world is not able to stop Russia here, then Russian tanks and Russian paratroopers can appear in every European capital."