The Georgian parliament passed a resolution on Tuesday advising the government to suspend peacekeeping operations in the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and take urgent measures to introduce international peacekeepers.
First Deputy Foreign Minister Valery Chechelashvili said, "The Russian Foreign Ministry's statement did not surprise us. We knew that there would be provocations, insults, and humiliation. We have become used to such statements and do not pay any attention to them."
The Russian Foreign ministry had said Tuesday: "Tbilisi's irresponsible actions may cause irretrievable damage to the peaceful conflict resolution."
"Russia considers the resolution as a provocative step aimed to escalate tensions, destruction of current negotiating formats and elimination of legal basis for peaceful settlement of the Georgian-Abkhazian and Georgian-South Ossetian conflicts," the ministry said.
Konstantin Gabashvili, chairman of the Georgian parliament's foreign relations committee, said Russian diplomats were using insults as a self-defense tactic.
"When they realize that they have to protect themselves from the consequences of their immoral policies, they switch to insults," he said, adding that he expected much more of the same from the Russian side.
"We must not be put off balance. We must do our work and achieve our set goals," the parliamentarian said.
Russia assisted in concluding ceasefire agreements between Georgia and its separatist republics in the early 1990s and peacekeepers have since helped maintain ceasefire in the conflict zones.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that Russia's position remained unchanged and the withdrawal of peacekeepers was fraught with a new crisis and humanitarian catastrophe.
The ministry also said Russia "would take all necessary measures to ensure the implementation of the existing international agreements, prevent destabilization of the situation in the region and protect rights and interests of Russian nationals living there."
