Russian Diplomat: Moscow carefully observing ‘militarization’ of Georgia

“We are carefully observing the process of [Georgia’s militarization by western nations] and are adjusting the security assistance to Abkhazia and South Ossetia accordingly,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said in an interview for Interfax news agency on December 25.

“We are not afraid of Tbilisi, but we are seriously concerned about the actions of its Western allies,” Karasin said, adding that the Western nations had “completely forgotten what Georgia’s militarization had once brought about.”

The Deputy Foreign Minister underlined that “less than ten years after the barbarian attack on South Ossetia,” there was “a full-speed development of NATO military infrastructure in Georgia,” pointing at the recently-approved anti-armor and anti-air systems sales to Tbilisi, as well as the new U.S.-funded Georgia Defense Readiness program.

Grigory Karasin also noted that despite the incumbent Georgian government’s pledges that it would not use force against Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Tbilisi continued to avoid signing of non-use of force agreements with Tskhinvali and Sokhumi, and that there were “no guarantees that in western-equipped Georgia the militarist attitudes to its former territories” would not prevail again.

“We will, naturally, not leave our allies in the face of a possible aggression, but considering the presence of NATO in Georgia, in such scenario a very dangerous situation can develop for international stability,” Karasin added, calling on Georgia’s partner countries and organizations “to think of the negative consequences of their actions.”