MOSCOW. July 30 (Interfax-AVN) - Moscow is expressing its "indignation and regret about the Georgian leadership's inconsistent and insincere" position on current developments in the Pankisi Gorge, Russian presidential aide Sergei Yastrzhembsky told Interfax on Monday, commenting on the situation on the Russian- Georgian border.
A large group of well-armed Chechen rebels, based in the Pankisi Gorge, attempted to cross into Chechnya recently.
"We are tired of elementary lies," said Yastrzhembsky.
"We are told that there are no Chechen rebels in the Pankisi Gorge today, and they are there tomorrow; that there are no Arab mercenaries in the area now, and then they are there; that the Russian-Georgian border is well protected from the Georgian side today, and that it's an open door tomorrow," Yastrzhembsky said.
"In such a setting, one can hardly hope for the stable, constructive and friendly relations between Russia and Georgia in which the people of the two countries are interested," he said.