Financial Times: Georgia’s president warns crisis could trigger Russian aggression

In an Interview with the Financial Times, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili says that Russia’s struggle to contain the spread of the coronavirus and an economic crisis compounded by an oil collapse risks triggering new Kremlin aggression beyond its borders.

The pandemic crisis and the oil crisis… and maybe the political situation, all of that could encourage Russia to be more aggressive to show some gains outside. As the president of Georgia, I can express the hope that this time it will not be the case, that maybe the crisis will show the Russian leadership that they can look in a different way to solve their problems”, Zurabishvili said in an interview with the Financial Times.

Zurabishvili also mentioned that the Georgian government has not been able to give all the support to the residents of Georgia’s Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region, as the separatist authorities were more tense in their relations and more eager to control everything.

On the Russian side we have not seen any evolution either: we haven’t seen much transparency there in terms of what is happening with the pandemic”, said Zurabishvili.

Zurabishvili also mentioned that with its “absurd” restrictions on access for Georgian authorities to aid citizens in the Tskhinvali region, Russia had created new risks in occupied areas.

Read the full story here.