Russia and Georgia: betting on each other’s disintegration

Russian political analyst from the Moscow Institute for International Relations Nikolay Silaev has stated that both Russia and Georgia are betting on radical changes occurring in each other’s political situation. Georgians say that economic crisis will result in the disintegration of Russia and the consequent return of Abkhazia and South Ossetia to Georgian control. Meanwhile the Russian political elite is sure that destabilisation in Georgia furthers Russia’s interests.

Silaev says that in the Abkhazian and South Ossetian breakaway regions it is felt that it is necessary to support the claims of other ethnic minorities in Georgia to maintain the tension in the country. Silaev thinks that the Georgian and Russian sides should try and identify topics which would facilitate putting these nations back together rather than manipulating certain formulas of international law.