MOSCOW. Sept 29 (Interfax-AVN) - The Georgian authorities are trying to provoke a conflict with Russia, State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachyov told an Interfax news conference on Friday.
"The strategy of the Georgian authorities is obvious. It somewhat resembles attempts that were once made by the Baltic states to provoke a conflict with Russia and to go under NATO's security umbrella on the wave of this conflict as soon as possible," he said.
"If Russia is interested in Georgia not changing its status and not becoming a [NATO] member, we should not create any illusions of any threat facing Georgia. This is the kind of provocation the Georgian side is currently staging. But we have to see it and should not yield to it," Kosachyov said.
Asked whether force could be used against Georgia, the MP said that "various options can never be ruled out. But this is not the policy Russia is pursuing," he said.
Russia will do everything possible to avoid a military scenario, he said.
"I would advise our Georgian partners to stop building relations with Russia in the form of a political show," Kosachyov said.