Memorable events of recent history hardly give Georgia the right to mediate in the settlement of the conflict between neighbors, said Elena Panina, a member of the State Duma's International Affairs Committee.
Earlier, President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili made a proposal that the republic could become a mediator in the Karabakh conflict and hold a meeting of the OSCE Minsk Group in Tbilisi.
"The memorable events of Georgia's recent history hardly give it the moral right to act as a mediator between neighbors. The recent attempts to forcibly assimilate the inhabitants of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, attempts to destroy their autonomy and national cultural rights do not contribute to the creation of the reputation of a peacemaking country," Panina told RIA Novosti.
The deputy recalled that Zurabishvili had repeatedly spoken negatively about Russia and even called it an "enemy".
"There is reason to believe that its proposal is aimed at blocking Russian peacekeeping initiatives, to exclude Moscow from the peace process," Panina said.
In addition, according to the parliamentarian, attempts to exclude Russia from the settlement of the conflict will not lead to anything good: Moscow is a leading geopolitical player in the region, has close economic and cultural ties with Armenia and Azerbaijan, and the largest Armenian diaspora in the world and Azerbaijanis. All these factors are important components of the peacekeeping potential of our country, Panina emphasized.
“For those who dream of Russia's withdrawal from Transcaucasia, it is useful to recall the early 1990s, when, after the collapse of the USSR, everyone in the region was fighting against everyone. It was managed to stop the bloodshed only with the help of Russia,” the deputy said.
