Moscow is no longer satisfied with the Geneva discussions

Russia remembers August 2008 and intends to remind the Georgian authorities how the clash with Moscow ended for Tbilisi. On the 14th anniversary of the Georgian-Russian war, former President Medvedev and the spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, made it clear that Tbilisi will have to choose very soon - either complete loyalty to Moscow, or a “dubious future” with the likelihood of a Ukrainian scenario, Ekho Kavzkaza writes.

The 14th anniversary of the August war was not ignored in Russia. Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev in his telegram channel, speculated about the continuity of the war in Georgia in 2008 and the current war in Ukraine. The ex-Russian presidential official made it clear that the attack on Georgia was a warning from the US and NATO. But they did not listen, and February 2022 happened.

“Actions to force Georgia to peace in August 2008 were taken to protect citizens. At the same time, it was a signal to the US and NATO to heed Russia's concerns. The situation in the Caucasus has changed. But the US and NATO did not hear and did not understand. Ignored. They continued their extremely dangerous course. In 2022, we had to respond much tougher. Now the whole world has irreversibly changed,” Medvedev wrote.

The "February hawk" of Russian politics did not stop, giving a lengthy interview to the TASS agency, in which he repeated the thesis about the connection between the two wars, which, in his opinion, are "intrigues of the West." At the same time, Medvedev did not change the traditional rhetoric of representatives of the Russian political and diplomatic establishment, using insulting expressions addressed to neighbors:

“This is a single process and a common plan directed against Russia. It consists in the desire of the West, primarily the United States and other Anglo-Saxon countries, to rock the situation in our country. How? Through neighbors close to the borders of Russia. The Americans were cynically engaged in training the Georgian armed forces, investing a lot of money in this process. A large number of instructors were sent there to mobilize the Georgian army. They were loaded with weapons. In fact, they simply pushed the crazy freak Saakashvili to unleash aggression against the civilian population of South Ossetia and Russian peacekeepers. Instead of persuading him to seek a peaceful solution to the most complicated interethnic conflict that has matured there. And he was seduced, fool … "

The goal of the United States today, Medvedev is sure, is the same - to destroy Russia. According to him, "this is the root cause of the extremely aggressive, Russophobic geopolitical process that the West initiated." At the same time, Medvedev, speaking of Ukraine, emphatically called the country that became the object of the Russian invasion "Little Russia" - a term used in the Russian Empire:

“The same provocative, frankly, a criminal policy of the United States is being aggressively pursued in Ukraine. True, with much more active support from the European Union, which has finally lost its independence… We see the fruits of their Russophobic policy today in this country… Attempts to become an operetta dictator at the expense of extreme nationalism always end that way. This should be learned by the various Zelensky people, who are so fiercely supported by the Western world for selfish purposes, far from democracy and humanism. It is on the conscience of the current authorities of Little Russia [Ukraine] that the final burying of the Minsk agreements and the death of a huge number of civilians in the Donbas. They will have to answer for this sooner or later.”

Moreover, according to Medvedev, both Ukraine and Georgia will have to answer to Russia. Since neither Kyiv nor Tbilisi, the former Russian president believes, can expect membership in NATO. Medvedev is confident that the United States and its allies will ultimately not open the doors of the alliance to the former post-Soviet republics, as they do not want to get involved with Moscow seriously:

“The Alliance is making innocent faces and hypocritical statements that they say, our open door policy towards these states remains unchanged. In every possible way they bow and emphasize their partnership with them. In other words, they lie like dogs. And it seems that even an unshaven guy from Kyiv's green T-shirt stopped believing in these promises. I think that Ukraine and Georgia will not see membership either in NATO or in the European Union, which can only be reached through the narrow opening of the North Atlantic Alliance.”

Medvedev considers the opening of a "second front" called for by representatives of the Ukrainian establishment and from which the current Georgian authorities diligently disown. According to the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation for Moscow, Abkhazia and South Ossetia are independent states on whose territory Russian military bases are located. And the current authorities of Georgia understand this well.

"They will not once again tempt fate and enter into a confrontation with such a power as Russia," sums up Medvedev.

However, the Russian authorities do not intend to encourage the complaisance of the "Georgian Dream". In any case, until Tbilisi officially abandons the Western course. According to Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, the prospects for holding a postponed round of the Geneva discussions remain vague. The reason for this is the actions of the same collective West:

“In the meantime, the prospects for holding a postponed round are still vague. This is not our choice. All responsibility for disrupting the negotiation process and its consequences lies entirely with the initiators of such destructive actions and those who indulge them.”

According to Ms. Zakharova, the underlying reason for the “games of the West around discussions” lies in revenge on Moscow as part of a common line aimed at isolating Russia for its actions in Ukraine:

“Thus, the Geneva discussions became a hostage of geopolitics. We hope that our partners are aware that the illegitimate sanctions and other restrictive measures imposed against Russia, the European Union (as one of the co-chairing organizations), the United States (participating state), and Switzerland (the host country) create additional serious difficulties for the already difficult work within the framework of the Geneva discussions, which discredits the very format and the initial choice of the venue for the meetings.”

According to observers, in essence, this means that Moscow has questioned the possibility of further meetings in Geneva and made it clear that it will blackmail Tbilisi by moving the meetings from Switzerland to another location. Otherwise, the only platform for any kind of dialogue between the representatives of Tbilisi, Sukhumi and Tskhinvali may be closed. And this is a pretty clear signal from Georgia that the time when it was possible to sit on two chairs is coming to an end.