Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who is currently visiting Iran, made his first comments regarding the recent developments in breakaway South Ossetia and said that the Georgian authorities have a plan of action on how to deal with the crisis. He added that Tbilisi will not yield to provocations aimed at goading Georgia into an armed conflict.
?Before using a stick, we should exhaust the possibility of resolving the conflict with dialogue. But we are not going to yield to a smuggler?s and a criminal?s provocations,? Saakashvili told reporters in Iran, referring to de facto South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoev.
?We know how to deal with this problem. We have a plan of action. We should be principled in our actions,? he added.
The Georgian President, who will return to Georgian on July 9, also said that the Russian peacekeeping forces should help facilitate the stabilization of the situation in the conflict zone. ?Otherwise, their mandate will be put under question,? Saakashvili said.