In the context of developments in Georgia, Russia warned allied former Soviet republics against rapprochement with the West. “It seems to me that all countries surrounding the Russian Federation must draw their own conclusions about how dangerous it is to embark on a path towards the (…) zone of interest of the United States,” said Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, on Russian television on Friday.
On the abandonment of a controversial law after protests by thousands of Georgians, he said it sounded very similar to the Maidan in Kiev. Maidan Square in Kiev symbolizes Ukraine’s break with close ties with Russia. In 2013, the then pro-Russian government surprisingly failed to sign an association agreement with the European Union. As a result, weeks of protests broke out, which led to the overthrow of the then president in 2014 and began the democratization and removal of Russia.
In Georgia, thousands of people have protested for three consecutive days against the so-called agent bill, which was rejected in parliament on Friday although it was introduced by the ruling Georgian Dream party. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused the United States of stoking anti-Russian sentiment in Georgia.