The former Georgian ambassador to Russia, Erosi Kitsmarishvili, says that Tbilisi bears the main responsibility for starting the war in South Ossetia last August.
“It was the Georgian government that launched the military action, it doesn’t matter whether it was provoked or not,” Kitsmarishvili stressed. “As for the fact that Russia was prepared for it, Moscow was ready to perform the actions it did, because they were part of Russia’s overall plan. I am not saying Georgia is to blame for everything, because Russia was not an innocent lamb either,” he added. The statement was made at the session of the parliamentary commission investigating the recent war in South Ossetia. The words of Erosi Kitsmarishvili led to a scuffle among the members of the ruling party. One of them threw a pen at the diplomat and was about to start a fistfight. Kitsmarishvili also said that before invading South Ossetia, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili had plans to take under control of the territory of Abkhazia.