Georgia envoy fears Russian move

Russia may take provocative action when Nato war games start in Georgia next week, Georgian ambassador to the United States, Batou Koutelia, warned yesterday.

"When we see at the highest political level, the President of the Russian federation (Dmitry Medvedev) declares that he views these exercises as a provocation directed against Russian interests and they are prepared to act, it raises concerns that there might be some provocations," Mr Koutelia told a couple of journalists, including AFP.

"That happened before as well," he added.

Georgia launched a military operation in August 2008 after shots were fired from the breakaway Georgian region of North Ossetia. The operation provoked a massive Russian military intervention that crushed Georgian forces.

The Georgian diplomat, who has recently arrived in Washington from Tbilisi where he was the Deputy Defence Minister, said this time the Georgian reaction would be different.