Clear who prevents establishment of peaceful Russia-Georgia ties – Karasin

The head of the International Committee of the Council of the Russian Federation, Sergey Karasin, on Tuesday responded to protests in Georgia’s Black Sea city of Batumi over the entry of a cruise ship boarding Russian citizens, claiming the protests had been organized by the United National Movement opposition party. 

 

“Activists of Saakashvili’s [in reference to the currently imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili] party do not calm down. The germ of hatred towards Russia and Russians, which he [Saakashvili] had sown, is alive. It sometimes disappears, and then reappears again”, Karasin claimed. 

 

He added “It is interesting, what did the shouting of Saakashvili achieve with the action against the tourists who came to Batumi with our liner? Who is preventing the establishment of peaceful relations with Russia? The answer is clear, but still…”

 

Karasin had been negotiating trade and economic relations with Georgia while in the post of the deputy Foreign Minister since 2013, following the move of the current Georgian Dream Government to restore such ties with Moscow. 

 

No diplomatic cooperation has been restored between the two countries since Russia’s invasion of Georgia in 2008, under Saakashvili’s rule, which led to the occupation of 20 percent of Georgian territories by Russia.