Georgia
Saturday 19 August 2017
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Dmitry Medvedev
Russian Prime Minister
“Russia carried out an operation to enforce peace. We could not do otherwise, according to both the law and our conscience.”
Read more...While he is right that Georgian forces violated international law in their attack on Tskhinvali, the following Russian invasion saw massive violations of humanitarian law. -
Ramzan Kadyrov
Head of Chechnya
“America is carrying out policies against Russia, against the nation’s leadership. They know I am one of those ready to give my life for Russia, and that I have a good army capable of attacking and defending. We will see who comes out on top.”
Read more...Chechnya’s Kremlin-appointed head threatened the U.S. with his “army.” His claims are baseless: by military standards, Chechnya has no army. -
Foreign Ministry
Russian Federation
“It [the Council of Europe decision] declares Abkhazia’s and South Ossetia’s fictitious attachment to Georgia, [and] makes an effort to place on Russia the responsibility for Georgia’s conflict-ridden relations with these republics, which some time ago belonged to it (Georgia).”
Read more...Historically, both Abkhazia and South Ossetia were integral parts of Georgia, and Russia has recognized them as parts of Georgia in multiple international agreements, including numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions dating back to 1993. -
Alexei Pushkov
Chairman of the Information Policy Commission of the Russian Federation Council
“The head of the MFA of Austria offered to send refugees from the EU to Georgia – apparently in exchange for the visa-free regime. It would be interesting (to see), would Georgia be capable of refusing the EU?”
Read more...A member of the Russian Duma claimed that Georgia received visa free entry into the European Union as a part of a deal to resettle migrants in Europe in refugee camps in Georgia. EU and Georgian officials say the claim is bogus. -
Sergei Lavrov
Foreign Minister of Russia
“This is also connected with a necessity of ensuring security, when not only Central Asia, but also the Trans-Caucasus regions of the South Caucasus are becoming routes, which insurgents, extremists, terrorists and drug traffickers are actively trying to use.”
Read more...Georgia allows Russians unfettered access into Georgia while Russia requires Georgians to obtain a visa. Russia’s foreign minister claims Georgia cannot be granted a visa-free regime because of the country’s poor security environment. The Georgian government disputes the claim and says Russia has greater security problems related to terrorism. -
Irma Inashvili
General Secretary, Alliance of Patriots of Georgia
“In reality, the country is in an economic crisis, as it was in the nineties.”
Read more...A pro-Russian opposition leader in the Georgian parliament says that Georgia is in a similar economic crisis to what it faced in the 1990s. A Polygraph.info fact check shows that statistics do not back that up. -
Vladimir Putin
President, Russian Federation
“When a country joins NATO it becomes next to impossible for it to resist pressure from major NATO leaders such as the United States, and hence, it may deploy anything – a missile defense system, new bases, or if need be, missile strike systems.”
Read more...The Russian president says the United States and other major NATO members use the alliance to exert pressure against Russia by forcing Eastern European members to establish missile defense systems. But Eastern nations say they are the ones demanding more military installations and troops.