TBILISI. June 24 (Interfax-AVN) - Georgia is prepared to accept Russian assistance to deal with issues in the Pankisi Gorge, but not military aid, Kakha Sikharulidze, director of the Georgian Foreign Ministry's Public Relations Department, told Interfax on Monday.
"Georgia cannot use foreign troops to solve its domestic problems," he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told a news conference in Moscow on Monday that Georgia would not be able to resolve the Pankisi Gorge problem without Russia. Moscow is worried about the presence of Chechen rebels and Arab mercenaries in that gorge near the Russian-Georgian border.