MOSCOW, June 25. /TASS/. Moscow suspects that Washington is trying to inhibit Russia and Georgia from normalizing their ties, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday, responding to a question from TASS.
"We have fears that in this case our American colleagues are also trying to do everything possible to prevent Russia and Georgia from normalizing their relations and this normalization has been obvious over the past few years," Russia’s top diplomat emphasized.
As the foreign minister said, "some analysts have focused on the fact that several days before these provocations were staged in the Georgian parliament, the head of the Biden Foundation had visited Tbilisi and worked actively not only on the sidelines but also spoke publicly urging not to get carried away with developing ties with Russia."
"That is why, this aspect cannot be ignored," Lavrov pointed out.
Massive protests have gripped Tbilisi since June 20. The demonstrations were sparked by a session of the General Assembly of the International Assembly on Orthodoxy (IAO). Following the approved protocol, Head of the Russian delegation, State Duma MP Sergei Gavrilov who is the IAC president took the speaker’s seat in the Georgian parliament. Outraged by this action, the Georgian opposition disrupted the event and herded people into the streets for protests that ended in an attempt to storm the parliament’s building.
The riots that ensued injured 240 people and 300 protesters were detained. The demonstrators are demanding the resignation of Georgian Interior Minister Georgy Gakhariya and the release of all people detained during the riots.