Sergey Mironov, chairman of the Council of Federation, Russia's upper house of Parliament, said on April 28 that Russia would protect its citizens in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

“Russia stance is based on the fact that very many Russian citizens reside in Abkhazia and naturally if there is a threat to life of Russian citizens, or other type of threat, Russia of course will not stand aside,” RIA Novosti news agency quoted Mironov as saying.

Russian Foreign Ministry's special envoy for relations with CIS countries, Valery Kenyakin, said on April 25 that if Georgia started the military conflict in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Russia would have to react “including through military means.”

Temur Iakobashvili, the Georgian state minister for reintegration, said on April 28, that Russian officials’ rhetoric was an expression of “aggression.”