MOSCOW. Aug 4 (Interfax-AVN) - Moscow has cautioned Tbilisi against any moves that could harm Russian citizens.
"Russia is warning Tbilisi that all attempts to inflict harm on Russia citizens, or, worse still, to encroach on their lives, will be duly rebuffed," says the Foreign Ministry statement circulated on Wednesday.
"The Tbilisi authorities have made an unprecedented step by threatening to 'open fire at and sink all ships that will appear near the coast of Abkhazia.'"
"This warning is also intended for Russian tourists who make boat trips to Novy Afon and Sukhumi," the ministry said.
"International law qualifies such threats, should they be implemented, as a hostile act with all the ensuing consequences," the Foreign Ministry said.
"Tbilisi must fully understand the meaning of their words and be aware of its responsibility when human lives are at stake. Russian citizens have the right to decide where to spend their vacation on their own," the ministry said.
It also said that "threats being issued by Tbilisi suggest that Georgia is unable to solve the problems facing the country, including ethnic conflicts, and evidently it does not want to and is not prepared to conduct a peaceful dialogue on their settlement."
"Such statements demonstrate that Tbilisi is losing a sense of reality, and obviously forms its policies and makes its plans counting exclusively on the use of force or the threat of using force," the Foreign Ministry said.