MOSCOW, August 26. /TASS/.West-leaning radical groups in Georgia still ask Tbilisi authorities to solve the issue of South Ossetia and Abkhazia by military ways, South Ossetian President Alan Gagloyev told TASS on Saturday.
"It’s obvious to us that, that with the start the special military operation and with the provided assistance from Western countries, radical forces in Georgia systematically turn to the current Georgian authorities looking to seize the moment and solve the issue of South Ossetia and Abkhazia by force," he said.
"However, the 2008 wretched experience apparently sobers up their hotheads, and the present-day authorities as well as the people of Georgia in general stand against an intensified repetition of these events."
Russia recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia on August 26, 2008, after Georgia had mounted a nocturnal offensive against South Ossetia on August 8. Moscow intervened to protect civilians, many of whom had obtained Russian citizenship, and Russian peacekeepers have been stationed in the region since 1992. In a five-day armed clash, more than one thousand people, including 72 Russian peacekeepers, lost their lives.
Tbilisi later severed diplomatic ties with Moscow in response and stated that the territories at issue had been occupied.