Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which proclaimed independence from Georgia in the 1990s, have contributed to tensions in relations between Russia and Georgia, which accuse one another of plans to unleash a new bloody conflict in the region and to annex territory, respectively.
Speaking following talks with the NATO chief, Sergei Ivanov said: "All signs indicate that Georgia could opt for a military solution to the problems with Abkhazia and South Ossetia."
Georgia deployed massive troops in the Kodori Gorge, controlled by Abkhazia in its lower section, in the summer under the guise of a police operation there. Russia, which has peacekeepers in both breakaway regions, said it was a provocation and demanded their withdrawal.
More recently, President Mikheil Saakashvili appealed to his fellow citizens in Russia to return to Georgia, because their help will be soon needed to rebuild Abkhazia when Tbilisi regains control over the region.
Ivanov said that both Russia and NATO believe it necessary to find a peaceful solution to the territorial disputes in the former Soviet republic.
"NATO's general secretary and Russia share the view that these conflicts must be resolved through peaceful diplomatic means," Ivanov said.
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, who met with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow Thursday, also urged Russia and Georgia to take measures to ease tensions, highlighting the importance of preserving Georgia's territorial integrity.
The already strained relations between the two post-Soviet neighbors reached a boiling point in September when Georgia briefly arrested four Russian army officers on suspicion of espionage. Russia responded by cutting travel and mail links with the nation of 4.5 million and expelling hundreds of Georgian migrants.
Moscow recently said that it does not intend to reestablish those links any time soon.
But Ivanov said Thursday the moves were economically motivated, although he acknowledged that some authorities may have been selective in expelling illegal immigrants in the wake of the spying row with Georgia.
Scheffer said Russia should cancel the measures against Georgia, and called on Moscow and Tbilisi to adopt a quieter, more peaceful approach to bilateral problems.
