The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on August 26 that “the Saakashvili regime does not at all meet the high standards set by the world community” and added it was sure that “sooner or later” the Georgian people would have “worthy leaders.”

“Russia, which has true feelings of friendship and sympathy for the Georgian people, is sure that sooner or later they will obtain worthy leaders that really take care of their country and develop mutually respectful, equal and neighborly relations with all the Caucasus peoples,” it said.

“Russia is willing to contribute to this in any way,” the Russian Foreign Ministry added.

The statement, in which the Russian MFA tries to justify Russia’s decision to recognize the independence of Georgia’s two breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, puts the blame for the current crisis on “the Saakashvili regime.”

It also says that Russia was guided, by among other international treaties, by the 1970 Declaration on Principles of International Law.

“This Declaration obliges states to refrain from any forceful actions, which deprive people of their right to self-determination, freedom and independence, and [obliges them] to observe in its actions the principle of equality and self-determination of people and to have a government that represents the entire nation living on a particular territory. There is no doubt that the Saakashvili regime does not at all meet these high standards set by the world community,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.