Opinion: Georgian Leadership Aims to Provoke Russia by Forming Military Alliance with US

'The Georgian leadership is intending to make a military agreement with the US in order to provoke Russia,' State Duma Speaker Gennady Seleznyov has announced. As a Rosbalt reports, he made this announcement to journalists today. 'Tbilisi claims to want an alliance with Russia but this is not true,' said Mr Seleznyov. 'It seems that Georgia has found itself another powerful ally.'

When asked about the possibility of Georgia entering NATO, Mr Seleznyov said that 'NATO is a very expensive organisation. To be a part of this organisation, one must have a very large military budget but Georgia is too weak for this.' However, he stressed that 'any plans and steps taken by Georgia in the area of foreign policy and military development have a direct impact on Russia's interests. We are neighbours and we are concerned about the fact that US pilots are being allowed by Georgia to fly over our common border,' Mr Seleznyov added.