In an interview with the TASS news agency on September 28, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, when asked if there was any chance that diplomatic relations between Georgia and Russia could be restored soon, replied that the decision to break off relations between the two nations had been made by the Saakashvili regime.

"The Saakashvili dictatorship, which raised its hand against the Ossetians, whom it considered to be its people, and peacekeepers at the encouragement of the United States, was the one who broke off diplomatic relations, not us," Lavrov stressed. "And after receiving a positive reaction, it began to use anti-Russian measures to make up for its complete political and military failure," he added.

"We sincerely admire the Georgian people, as well as all the peoples of the South Caucasus, and we have never had a bad attitude towards the Georgian people," he said. In the history of Russia, in the history of the Soviet Union, in the history of our art, culture and science, Georgians occupy a unique place," Lavrov said. He said, "We agreed with Mr. Garibashvili's government to resume flights and abolish the visa regime when we saw that the current leadership in Tbilisi was interested in normalizing relations."

In addition, the Russian Foreign Minister said that many people in Armenia want to lose Russia and make new friends, but the fate of people who depend on the United States is always very unenviable.

The interviewer asked whether Armenia could lose Russia. "It is historically, geographically, geopolitically impossible to lose Russia, that is, to completely ignore its interests in the South Caucasus," Lavrov replied, adding that such hopes are, however, nurtured by some leaders in Yerevan - they say so directly. "A similar idea slipped into the recent speech of Prime Minister Pashinyan, who spoke of the need to compensate for the 'failed' alliances on which Armenia relied to ensure its security, and to expand the range of partners who will provide that security. If they are relying on the United States, they would do well to look at the recent history of how the United States has dealt with those it has sought to take under its wing while advancing its geopolitical interests in areas of the world far from American shores. The fate of all these people is very unenviable," the minister stressed.