Putin disagrees that Russia was too slow in using armed forces against Georgia in 2008
VYBORG, Leningrad region. Aug 7 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin disagrees that Russia was not quick enough in deciding to use its armed forces against Georgia on August 8, 2008.
"Making decisions [on using the armed forces] is a thing that requires responsibility, and we had to think properly" before acting, Putin said when asked by journalists in Vyborg on Tuesday whether Russia was too slow in responding to Georgia's attack on South Ossetia in August 2008.
Journalists asked the president to comment on a film titled 'A Lost Day' posted on the Internet, in which former chief of staff of the Russian armed forces Gen. Yury Baluyevsky says that "we lost one day then, which led to numerous casualties until Putin kicked the military."
"The level of our relations and the nature of our relations do not allow for using such terms. We were thinking for three days, and in the end we had to use the armed forces," Putin said.