What is happening in Georgia is similar to a planned provocation with the participation of third forces, said Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko.
"We are absolutely sure that forcing anti-Russian hysteria in the Georgian society, is into the hands of destructive and, in this sense, deeply Georgian elements, as well as all sorts of the third forces, whose goal is not only in the Caucasus, to divide and rule", Matvienko said at the plenary session of the Federation Council on Wednesday.
In her opinion, what is happening, is similar to a carefully planned provocation against both Russia and Georgia, and the Georgian authorities should strongly resist these attempts.
The Speaker of the Federation Council has noted that the unrest in Georgia began a few days after the visit to Tbilisi of the former US Deputy Secretary of Defense Michael Carpenter.
Matvienko quoted him as saying on Twitter that after spending three days in Georgia, he was not sure that the government of that country "fully understands the consequences of the open-door policy with Russia."
In this regard, Matvienko believes that the unrest could have been a staged provocation.
She has noted that the situation in Georgia still remains "extremely dramatic and explosive."
On the eve, Russian President Vladimir Putin called on the Georgian politicians who are shaking the domestic political situation and aggravating relations with Russia, to recall the history, and gave advice on how to improve relations with Abkhazia and South Ossetia. “These anti-Russian sentiments are being inflated in Georgia by those people who either don’t know anything or know but ignore. And, ultimately, harm Georgia itself and its people,” Putin told reporters in Yekaterinburg.
He said that the scandalous statements that he heard in his address in Georgia are derived from a policy based on a reluctance to remember the history of relations between Georgia, Abkhazia and Ossetia, and to undermine relations with Russia. “Everything else is derivative - both swearing and scolding. This must be taken seriously, deeply, and not responded to any external manifestations of some scums,” the President stressed.
He also spoke out against imposing sanctions on Georgia, which are being proposed by Russian parliamentarians. “For the sake of restoring full-fledged relations, I wouldn’t do anything to complicate our relations. As for various kinds of sanctions against Georgia, I wouldn’t do it out of respect for the Georgian people,” Putin said to journalists.
