The FINANCIAL — According to Civil Georgia, Russia’s rhetoric over Abkhazia and South Ossetia is simply a tactic, which will not lead to recognition of these breakaway regions by Moscow, President Saakashvili said in an interview with the Russian daily Kommersant.
In the interview, published on March 31, Saakashvili, however, also warned that such a tactic might lead “to a very bad strategy; so there is no need to play this game.”
He also said that during his meeting with President Putin in Moscow in February he was told that “Russia would never recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia… It was promised and Russia has kept its promise.”
He also said that both the Kremlin and the Russian Foreign Ministry had “hinted for many times” that Moscow’s public rhetoric was just a tactic, “which should not be perceived seriously.” “So you’ve been told: we will make some statements, but you don’t worry about it?” a journalist asked. “Yes,” Saakashvili replied. “This is kind of a tactic… We are very calm and do not expect any complications.”
He also suggested that Russia’s rhetoric about Abkhazia and South Ossetia was now mainly directed towards NATO allies “to make them scare” and prevent Georgia’s invitation to Membership Action Plan (MAP).
“But NATO allies will not get scared with it. But it may exacerbate situation in the conflict zones. I can show restraint, because I have an experience. But those people in the conflict zones have restricted outlook because they are isolated and because of lack of information. So there is no need to use them. They take everything seriously and not just as a game. Although this is a game and this is what we have been told in the Kremlin,” Saakashvili said.
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