Belarusian TV shows interview with Saakashvili. Russia getting ready for revenge (Video)
- 16.07.2010, 9:12
Some critical remarks regarding the Russian leadership were made in an interview of the President of Georgia to the Belarusian TV.
The subject of the conversation was difficult Moscow-Tbilisi relations. As the Georgian leader confessed he didn’t understand what Russia wanted from him.
The First Channel of the Belarusian TV showed an interview with Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili, who said he didn’t understand a position of Russia on his country. “It’s difficult to understand what they want. We have always wanted to meet halfway,” Saakashvili said. According to the president, when Georgia had made concessions, Russia said it needed more.
As Saakashvili thinks, Russia’s position on Georgia has elements of blackmail. “Change your behavior, fulfill all our demands, and then we’ll see,” Saakashvili describes the position of Russia. “We refuse to make a choice between bad and worse, because we want to choose between good and better,” Saakashvili said about the relations between the two countries. Concerning one of the most acute questions, recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia by Russia, Saakashvili noted: “Russia knows well we exist within the boundaries we had before.”
Mikheil Saakashvili hopes Belarus won’t recognize independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Saakashvili noted in the interview that Belarus had always supported Georgia in spite of different periods when it was needed. In particular, Belarus didn’t refuse to import the Georgian goods. As the Georgian leader reminded that after Russian had imposed embargo on exporting Georgian goods, a CIS summit was held in Minsk, where Georgian mineral water and wine were offered at a banquet. “Russian officials enjoyed the drinks,” he quipped.
Saakashvili noted in the interview that he had watched the Russian critical TV programmes about Belarus meaning the NTV film “Godbatka” shown in early July. He said it was strange for the country where “journalist Anna Politkovskaya and human rights activist Natalya Estemirova were killed” to accuse another country “almost of cannibalism”.
Moscow prepares a respond to rapprochement between Belarus and Georgia – a film “Godbatka 2” about the regime of Alyaksandr Lukashenka is to be shown on NTV on Friday evening. The first documentary insulted and perturbed the Belarusian authorities.