President Saakashvili told BBC that uncovering of Russian spy network in Georgia demonstrated that the Russian "intelligence community" was not in good shape and that the Russian government apparatus should learn how to reform its institutions from Georgia.

Saakashvili said in remarks, which are his first public comments on the matter, that Russia had done “all the damage they could have inflicted” on Georgia and he did not think uncovering of the alleged spy network can make things “any worse.”

“From this point on, from this lowest point, hopefully things can get better. But that doesn't mean we should turn a blind eye to subversion, spies, provocation, and we'd better react to it," he told BBC.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on November 5, that Tbilisi’s “spy story” was “a provocation” aimed at attracting attention ahead of NATO Lisbon and OSCE Astana summits.

Georgian foreign minister, Grigol Vashadze, said on November 8, that with the exposure of Russian spy network in Georgia, Moscow had suffered yet another failure.
 
“Russia is trying to shift attention from the elimination of this spy ring to OSCE, the OSCE summit, and in general to the wider context of Georgian-Russian relations – and it's apparent why; Russia has suffered another failure. Georgians have once again proven that no Russian spy ring will ever manage to exist in this country, that this is the country of patriots and that this country has a huge experience of dealing with occupants. On the one hand, Russia is trying to convince everyone that it has nothing to do with this spy ring, and on the other hand it is trying to convince everyone that its Georgia’s provocation ahead of scheduled important international events [NATO and OSCE summits],” Grigol Vashadze told journalists.