"Attempts by the West to open a 'second front' in the Caucasus are unacceptable" - Russian Foreign Ministry

Russian Foreign Ministry on “second front”

Western attempts to shift the confrontation from Ukraine to the Caucasus are unacceptable, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said. According to Galuzin, the West is constantly calling on Tbilisi to open a “second front.”

The Kremlin’s narrative of a so-called “second front” has been an important part of the ruling Georgian Dream party’s rhetoric ever since Russia invaded Ukraine.

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine no Western leader has called for the opening of a “second front” in Georgia. Statements about getting involved in the war are heard only from representatives of the ruling party of Georgia and high-ranking Russian officials.

The Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Garibashvili, has also talked about a “second front” when speaking in parliament. According to him, “the real danger facing us today is the very plan that exists against our country, the so-called Ukrainization plan. It is planned to open a so-called “second front”.”

The head of Russian foreign intelligence, Sergei Naryshkin, has said the same:

“We see persistent attempts by Washington, Brussels, London and other Western capitals to convince the Georgian authorities to open a second front”=. They assure the Georgian authorities that now is a good time to regain control over the territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

The idea of Western capitals is to help Ukraine. They see that the situation on the battlefield is not in favor of Ukraine, so they are forcing Georgia to enter a military conflict with the Russian Federation,” Naryshkin said.

“Such dangerous statements require a prompt response from the co-chairs of the MOR and the organizations they represent. When discussing the situation on the ground, the mood of Sukhumi, Tbilisi and Tskhinvali was stated to continue to show restraint,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

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The Russian Foreign Ministry states that “the situation in the Georgian-Abkhazian and Georgian-South Ossetian border areas remains relatively calm. Serious incidents are not occurring. Despite the pause in work of the Geneva platform, it was possible to maintain a dialogue on other negotiation tracks, including via hotlines and within the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) on the Georgian-South Ossetian border in Ergneti.”

The Kremlin reiterates that the maintenance of security and stability in the Caucasus is contingent upon Tbilisi’s refusal to use force.

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