Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, said on December 24 that Georgia’s “current leadership represents threat for the regional peace and security.”

This threat posed by the Georgian leadership “has once already grown into war against South Ossetia, against the Russian peacekeepers, against the Russian Federation.” he said at a joint news conference with foreign minister of breakaway Abkhazia, Sergey Shamba, in Moscow.

“So we are doing everything in order to prevent its [last year’s war] reoccurrence and we hope that those who continue rebuilding the Georgian army, understand what they are doing and they will restrain Georgia from new adventures,” Lavrov said.

He also said that security of Abkhazia and South Ossetia was “reliably protected” after Moscow signed with these two “new states” comprehensive agreements on friendship and cooperation.