US pushed Georgia to launch aggression against South Ossetia in 2008 — Medvedev

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The Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman pointed out that the USA pushed Saakashvili to launch aggression against civilians and Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia

MOSCOW, August 8. /TASS/. The United States pushed then Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili towards war in 2008 instead of encouraging him to search for a peaceful solution, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman said in an interview with TASS dedicated to the 14th anniversary of Russia’s operation to coerce Georgia to peace.

Medevedev, who served as Russian president in 2008, pointed out that the US had trained Georgian troops, flooding the country with weapons and sending a large number of instructors to Georgia.

"In fact, they [the Americans] were simply pushing Saakashvili, a crazy freak, to launch aggression against civilians and Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia instead of persuading him to search for a peaceful solution to the complicated ethnic conflict," Medvedev pointed out.

He emphasized that at every stage of the negotiation process, Russia had warned against the use of force, urging Georgia to make peace agreements with Abkhazia and South Ossetia but "unfortunately, those initiatives were ignored by Tbilisi, its sponsor, NATO, and even the United Nations."

On August 8, 2008 Georgia mounted an overnight armed attack against South Ossetia. Russia intervened to protect civilians and its peacekeepers stationed in the region since 1992. In a five-day armed clash, more than one thousand people, including 72 Russian peacekeepers, lost their lives. On August 26, 2008 Russia recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.