There should be an arms embargo on Georgia until it becomes “a normal state,” Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said on September 1.

“In order to guarantee there is no reoccurrence of violence, Russia will continue to undertake measures for the punishment of the perpetrators so that this regime never perpetrates evil again,” Lavrov was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying on September 1.

“As a start, it would be appropriate to impose an embargo on the supply of arms to this regime, until such time as some other authorities turn Georgia into a normal state,” he said while addressing graduates of the Moscow university of international relations.

He also said that the west would make a mistake of “truly historic proportions” if it continued supporting the Georgian authorities.

“If instead of choosing their national interests and the interests of the Georgian people, the United States and its allies choose the Saakashvili regime, this will be a mistake of truly historic proportions,” he said.