On 28 July “several thousand people” gathered in Batumi and demanded to establish relations with Russia. The rally was organized by the opposition party “Alliance of Patriots of Georgia”, reported the Georgian Sputnik.

The main demands of the protesters were a direct dialogue with Abkhazia, South Ossetia (Tskhinvali region) and Moscow for the restoration of the territorial integrity of Georgia and the declaration of the “United National Movement” as a “guilty political force”. Among the demands put forward were also the rejection of belligerent rhetoric towards Russia, the return of Russian-Georgian relations to the pre-crisis level, and a course towards neutrality for Georgia’s military.

“We should have started a large-scale dialogue on all issues a long time ago. It’s very hard, but we have to start a dialogue with Moscow. We have to start a difficult conversation with the Abkhazians and Ossetians ... Who are we waiting for? We should do this! We must take the first step, because we have lost,” said the Alliances Deputy Ada Marshania. “It's time to call everything by its real name ... The main demand is that the parliament finally adopts our resolution and condemns the criminal regime of the nationalists (referring to the United National Movement)”, stated the party leader Irma Inashvili.

Party leader David Tarkhan-Mouravi said that Georgia should seek to restore its integrity by peaceful means through direct dialogue not only with Moscow, but also with Sukhumi and Tskhinvali. “We do not want to fight with Moscow, nor with Tskhinvali and Sukhumi, but this does not mean that we are giving up something. Diplomacy is a smart word. We want dialogue with Moscow, Sukhumi and Tskhinvali. We want a peaceful dialogue that will bring a pragmatic result. When we want peace - we need to work and fight for this," said Tarkhan-Mouravi. The Alliance of Patriots said that it would resume actions in September until all its requirements are met.

The rallies were announced a few days earlier. The parliamentary speaker of the alliance Giorgi Lomia said that a new demand will be added, namely that the David Gareji Monastery will be “returned to Georgia”.  “You know, we have a tense situation with Azerbaijan. The oldest cave monastery complex David-Gareji is located on a conflicted part of the border”, he said, indicating that the recent incident at the monastery was orchestrated by their sympathizers.