TBILISI, September 14. /TASS/. The Georgian government will find the strength to apologize for the war against Ossetians that was started by former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili in 2008, said Bidzina Ivanishvili, founder and honorary chairman of the country’s ruling party.

"Immediately after the elections on October 26 are wrapped up, when the instigators of the war are condemned and all those responsible for ruining Georgian-Ossetian friendship receive the strictest legal response, we will definitely find the strength to apologize for the flames of fire, in which our Ossetian brothers and sisters were enveloped by the traitorous National Movement in 2008 on orders" from abroad, he said in a televised speech at a campaign rally of the Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia party in the city of Gori.

According to Ivanishvili, he is confident that forgiveness, which is "a cornerstone of Christianity for Georgians and Ossetians" will help end the confrontation imposed by Georgia's enemies. The standoff "will end in a historical mutual forgiveness and reconciliation," he said.

The politician reiterated that the ruling party needs to get a constitutional majority in the new parliament in order to put Saakashvili's party on trial for unleashing the 2008 war.

In August 2008, an armed conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia broke out after Georgian forces attempted to take control of the Ossetian city of Tskhinvali. On August 8, Russia deployed troops to protect Russian citizens and its peacekeepers stationed in the region. As a result, Georgian forces retreated. On August 26, 2008, Russia recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.