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US failed to stop Georgia’s aggression in 2008, tried to blame Russia — Putin

"Saakashvili publicly stated that he ordered his troops to begin this campaign," he said.

NEW YORK, June 14. /TASS/. Washington failed to stop Tbilisi’s policy of aggression in 2008 and tried to blame Moscow for it, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in the second part of The Putin Interviews documentary, aired in the United States on Tuesday night.

"I could not believe my ears and eyes when I saw that Western media were accusing Russia of this attack. Most importantly, millions of people worldwide believed them. But (then Georgian President Mikheil) Saakashvili publicly stated that he ordered his troops to begin this campaign," he said.

When asked whether the United States or NATO supported Saakashvili, the Russian leader replied: "I’m not 100% sure that someone provoked him, or stood behind his back and pushed him into doing this. I don’t know, but it seems to me that he would have never brought himself to carry out this provocation on his own. But, certainly no one stopped him anyway.".