Russian State Duma MP Sergey Gavrilov has revealed the Russian delegation for the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy in Tbilisi will remain in full contingent in the wake of the incident at the Parliament of Georgia.
Gavrilov has told Russia's Ria Novosti the delegation's participation in the IAO will "stick to the agenda" with "no plans for reducing [its capacity]".
We are ready [to continue the work] and have support from the delegations of Jordan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia... There are no plans for reducing anything until we review the agenda," the lawmaker told the news agency.
Russian MP Sergey Gavrilov has claimed "radicals" in the Parliament of Georgia doused him in water and attempted to forcefully take his papers in an incident at the lawmaking body in Tbilisi on Thursday.
Gavrilov, Head of the Russian State Duma Committee on Issues of Public Associations and Religious Organisations, was confronted by a number of Georgian MPs as he took up the seat of the chairman of the parliament to deliver his address as part of the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (IAO) hosted in the Georgian capital.
Opposition MPs in the Georgian parliament protested the Russian lawmaker's address from the seat based on his supposed participation against Georgia in the 1992-1993 War in Abkhazia and Russian military's ongoing occupation of Georgia's Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) regions.
They broke into the hall, captured the tribune and my seat. As we were on a break, they began looking for me, attempted to forcefully take my papers, doused me in water [and] presented pictures of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin," Gavrilov told Russia's Ria Novosti news agency following the incident.
The Duma MP also told the agency those confronting him demanded his handing over for the alleged participation in the Abkhazian conflict, however denied taking part in the 1990s war in the region and called the allegations "fake".
The interrupted IAO meeting was scheduled to be held in Tbilisi between June 19-22. About 100 participants of delegations from 25 countries are in Georgia for the assembly.
Gavrilov, who heads Russia's delegation at the assembly, told Ria Novosti participants of the event would "meet to discuss ways of continuing" the meeting.