Presidential elections in Georgia will confirm failure of Saakashvili policies - Russian diplomat
MOSCOW. Sept 5 (Interfax) - The outcome of the presidential elections scheduled to take place in Georgia in October will confirm that President Mikheil Saakashvili's regional policies have failed, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said.
"I am convinced that the outcome of the parliamentary elections in Georgia, which Mikheil Saakashvili has already lost, and the presidential elections scheduled to take place in late October will only confirm that the unconstructive and provocational policies in regional and international affairs always lead to tragedies and failure. That's what we see now," he said in an interview with the Internet publication Russia Direct.
The text of the interview was posted on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday.
The diplomat said the only way for Georgia is to establish interstate relations with South Ossetia and Abkhazia and sign a non-use of force document with them.
"They should begin with that. I don't see any other option in the next few years and decades. By the way, some Georgian politicians understand that very well. Protest notes, which are now filed through Switzerland, in my view, have become a routine demarche by Georgia protesting visits by any Russian politicians or statesman to these Transcaucasian republics," he said.