Instead of “an empty brag” the Georgian authorities should have preempted Russia by easing sanctions on Abkhazia, the opposition Republican Party said in a statement on March 7.

“The Saakashvili-Putin talks in the frames of the CIS summit [in Moscow on February 21] had been portrayed [by the Georgian authorities] as a breakthrough on the road towards resolving numerous problems in bilateral relations,” the statement reads. “However, as has been the case on many occasions previously, an empty brag of the country’s leadership has in fact turned into yet another problem for us, as Russia has quit the 1996 CIS treaty.”

The Republican Party also said that the Georgian government itself should have been the initiator of “softening sanctions” on Abkhazia. “This could have been perceived as a goodwill gesture on the one hand… and on the other hand it could have served as a preventative measure against Russia’s [expected move to pull out from the Abkhaz sanction treaty].”

“The recent rhetoric of the Georgian authorities, especially after the unsuccessful presidential election, makes us think that in light of an absence of clear strategy on Abkhaz conflict resolution, the country’s leadership deems a pseudo-patriotic wave and an escalation in tension are the one (if not the only) way to save its power,” the statement reads.