Alexander Shliakhturov, chief of Russia’s military intelligence (GRU), said on November 5 that he did not rule out that Georgia might again use force against breakaway South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

“The situation with Georgia remains tense because the current Georgian authorities do not only refuse to recognize the sovereignty of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, but are sparing no efforts to return these countries, which have already become independent, to their jurisdiction,” he told Itar-Tass news agency.

“We need to add to this the unpredictability of policy pursued by the Georgian authorities led by Saakashvili, which may succumb to temptation to use force in order to tame obstinate republics as it happened last August,” Shliakhturov said. “We do not rule out such a development.”