MOSCOW. June 24 (Interfax-AVN) - The Georgian authorities can solve the problem of Chechen rebels in the Pankisi Gorge only in cooperation with Russia, President Vladimir Putin has said.
"Nobody, neither the American special task force nor the special task forces of Georgia itself, will solve the problem of terrorists in the Pankisi Gorge without the direct and active participation of Russian secret services and units," Putin said at a press conference in the Kremlin on Monday.
The presence of bandits in the Pankisi Gorge "is ruining the Georgian state itself," the president said. "There is apprehension and fear" about Russia in Georgia, he noted. "However, the fear of real bandits should overweigh far-fetched misgivings," Putin remarked.