If Georgia’s NATO hopes are linked to its wish to settle the Abkhaz and South Ossetian conflicts by force, this is “a very dangerous game,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

“You all know that Abkhazia and South Ossetia do not even think that NATO will come to Georgia,” Lavrov said. “I think that it is unacceptable to play with fire on such an issue and we should proceed keeping in mind the interests of all those people, who reside in this region.”

Earlier Moscow warned that “the real secession” of Abkhazia and South Ossetia would begin as soon as NATO indicated Georgia could join the alliance.

Davit Bakradze, the Georgian foreign minister, said on March 27 that NATO’s failure next week to invite Georgia to its Membership Action Plan (MAP) would encourage Russia, and consequently fuel the separatist conflicts in Georgia.