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Foreign minister slams Georgia's actions as anti-Russian

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The Russian foreign minister accused Georgia Monday of being anti-Russian, after the Georgian president slammed alleged Russian interference during mass street protests in the capital in early November.
MOSCOW, November 26 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian foreign minister accused Georgia Monday of being anti-Russian, after the Georgian president slammed alleged Russian interference during mass street protests in the capital in early November.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili accused Russia on November 7 of being behind opposition protests in Tbilisi. Georgian authorities have also said that Russian peacekeepers had breached their mandate in local conflict zones, and that Russian planes had violated Georgian airspace. Russia has denied all the accusations.

"What the Georgian leadership is doing cannot be described as friendly. I would not even call their actions neutral or restrained. This is a clear anti-Russian line. Georgia's leadership needs this line to justify its failures in both domestic and foreign policy," Sergei Lavrov told Itogi magazine.

Lavrov said Georgia is trying to make up for its inability to resolve relations with its breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Lavrov said he has repeatedly outlined to his Georgian counterpart Gela Bezhuashvili Russia's position. During the talks they discussed normalizing relations, stopping anti-Russian rhetoric and moving away from resolving local conflicts by military force.

"The fact that certain circles in Tbilisi are preparing for conflict is beyond doubt, considering the number of weapons Georgia has been purchasing both secretly and openly. And considering the number of provocations staged in the region, including against Russian peacekeepers," he said.

Lavrov said Georgia is well aware of what is required to normalize relations, but, every time the two countries discuss improving bilateral relations something happens to set the process back.

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