October 25, 2006 - 18:11 AMT
Russia's Actions Regarding Georgia Aimed to Prevent Bloodshed
"People in Abkhazia, South Ossetia are worried by militarization of Georgia. So are we. The aggravation of the Russian-Georgian relations is due to it - the attempt or arrangements of a possible solution of the Abkhazian and South Ossetian issues by force," Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a live news conference today. "If Georgian leadership resorts to that, it will be a great mistake. If people want to live peacefully, they need to use all peaceful tools, compromises. Our latest actions regarding Georgia are not aimed at its plans to join the NATO or something else. Any state is sovereign and it determines how to secure itself. Our actions are aimed at the sole goal of preventing bloodshed."