(Reuters) – Moscow could annex breakaway regions of Georgia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, former Russian President and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has said.
“The idea of joining Russia is still popular in Abkhazia and South Ossetia,” Dmitry Medvedev, who now serves as deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, wrote in an article published early Wednesday by the Argoumenty newspaper. i Fakty (“Arguments and Facts”, Editor’s note).
“It could very well be implemented if there are good reasons for it,” said Dmitry Medvedev.
Georgia lost control of South Ossetia and Abkhazia – located respectively in the Caucasus and on the shores of the Black Sea – after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Moscow recognized the independence of these regions after the war against Georgia in 2008.
Although relations between Moscow and Tbilisi have since improved, Dmitry Medvedev accused the West of creating tension by discussing Georgia’s possible NATO membership.
“We will not wait if our worries seem close to being realized,” said Dmitry Medvedev in this article, which marks the 15th anniversary of the recognition of the independence of the two regions.
Georgian officials have repeatedly affirmed that they are determined to join the Alliance, which would preserve the country’s territorial integrity.
(Report Maria Tsvetkova in New York; Camille Raynaud)
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