Russian senators accuse Georgian president of seeking to create tension
Interfax
Moscow, 21 May: The (Russian) Federation Council does not rule out the possibility that Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili may stage an act of provocation in relations with Russia in order to receive financial support from the West.
"The economic situation in Georgia is such that Saakashvili desperately needs financial support from his Western allies, and first of all from the USA. In this situation we can not rule out the possibility that he may stage another act of provocation aimed at straining relations with Russia," the Federation Council first deputy speaker, the head of the commission on the Caucasus, Aleksandr Torshin, told Interfax on Thursday (21 May).
He described as symptomatic the statement of the Georgian president that Russia was allegedly preparing military provocations against Georgia. "Now Saakashvili is deprived of the opportunity to tell the West and first of all the USA: give me aid because the opposition has cornered me," Torshin said. In his opinion what Saakashvili is doing now is banal extortion.
According to Torshin, Saakashvili has nothing to do but "beg money from the West in order to reinforce his regime, citing an alleged threat coming from the Russian side".
"In this respect, Mr Saakashvili's desperate moves are rather indicative," Torshin added.
He thinks that in this situation it is necessary for Russia to take every possible step to minimize Saakashvili's chances of staging any acts of provocation on the border with South Ossetia or in Georgia itself.
"The August events in South Ossetia showed that Saakashvili, for the sake of remaining in power, is capable of committing most outrageous acts of provocation and will stop at nothing," Torshin said.
His opinion was shared by the deputy chairman of the Federation Council international relations committee, Vasiliy Likhachev.
The problem of Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia will be on the agenda at the Russia-EU summit that has opened in Khabarovsk, Likhachev told Interfax.
"Brussels' position envisages a rather tough stance towards Russia on these issues. In particular, this will also concern European observers. The EU insists that they should receive access to Abkhazia and South Ossetia," Likhachev said.
According to him, the main point of the Russian position is that South Ossetia and Abkhazia are independent states, that is why observers' missions should also be separate. "The Russian position on the issues of Abkhazia and South Ossetia comes from respect for the UN Charter and is adequate to the geopolitical processes in this region," Likhachev said.
He went on to add that the EU should not close its eyes to the fact that it was the Georgian president who flagrantly violated fundamental international principals and human rights. "The fact of aggression from Mr Saakashvili was evident in South Ossetia. If we want to construct a substantial building of European security designed for long-time service, our European partners should be as attentive and responsible as possible," Likhachev said.
Commenting on Saakashvili's statement that Russia was allegedly preparing another act of provocation against Georgia, Likhachev said that it was "an old political song".
"This is more about an interpretation of events and the subjective wishes of Mr Saakashvili himself. He would like to hide behind NATO's and the EU's back, and from behind this politically powerful back attack Russia in different ways, including through ideological and information slander, pressure and blackmail," Likhachev said.