MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd February, 2023) The government of Georgia, in response to unprecedented pressure from Western countries demanding it impose sanctions against Russia, is guided by its national interests, while the West would like to turn Georgia into an "irritant" for Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday.
"Now in Georgia, along with the president ... there is a government ... which, in response to unprecedented pressure to join the sanctions, to open a second front ... say: 'You know, we are guided by our national interests. We have trade with Russia, we have tourism, and we receive energy resources'," Lavrov said in an interview with Rossiya 24 and RIA Novosti.
He added that it "meets the interests of the Georgian state and the Georgian people."
"But I have no doubts that they would also like to turn Georgia into another 'irritant,' to return the situation to those aggressive times of (former President Mikheil) Saakashvili," the Russian Foreign Minister added.
Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, responding to calls for help from the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. Western countries and their allies responded by imposing comprehensive sanctions against Russia. Georgia has not joined anti-Russian sanctions as they could negatively affect the lives of Georgian people, Kakha Kaladze, the ruling party's secretary general and Tbilisi mayor, said last year.
