MOSCOW - Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's recent remark suggesting that his country needs a strong army, which cannot become such without an "active war," signals persistence of militaristic attitudes in Tbilisi, which poses a threat to peace and security in the South Caucasus, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
“The said remarks unambiguously confirm that militant revanchist
attitudes persist in Tbilisi, which poses a real threat to peace and
stability in the South Caucasus,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman
Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement posted on the ministry website
on Thursday.
“There must be a reason for Georgia to persistently evade the
conclusion of binding agreements on the non-use of force with Abkhazia
and South Ossetia,” he said.
“The media quoted Saakashvili as saying that Georgia needs a strong
army, which cannot be such without an ‘active war’, and ‘therefore
Georgian soldiers are fighting in Afghanistan, so making their army
stronger, and Georgia will continue to train their troops there, as they
need combat training’,” Lukashevich said.
“It turns out that Georgia is present in Afghanistan and is
increasing the number of its soldiers there not to fight terrorism and
maintain security, which the International Security Assistance Force’s
mandate implies. Moreover, Saakashvili’s words suggest that the longer
the ‘active war’ lasts in Afghanistan, the better for Georgia, which
will have a suitable range for its army to undergo combat training this
way,” Lukashevich said.
“We are of the view that this open, if not cynical, revelation by Mr.
Saakashvili of his true motives should be taken into account by those
who hail ‘Tbilisi’s contribution to security in Afghanistan’ and, under
this plausible pretext, provides quite tangible assistance in stepping
up Georgia’s military potential,” he said.
