Yevgeny Primakov, a former prime minister and foreign minister, said the South Caucasus state's conflicts with the self-proclaimed republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia could erupt again and extremists from the neighboring North Caucasus regions could appear in the conflict zones.
"Nobody would be able to seal borders and people from the North Caucasus would become involved in the conflict. They should think a thousand times before asking us to withdraw," said Primakov.
The parliament of Georgia, which seeks to join NATO, passed a resolution Tuesday advising the government to suspend peacekeeping operations in the breakaway regions and take urgent measures to introduce international peacekeepers.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called the move irresponsible.
About 3,000 Georgian troops and some 7,000 civilians of all ethnic origins were killed in the war in Abkhazia alone, according to official Georgian sources.
But Primakov, an advocate of a Russian foreign policy based on moderate mediation while expanding influence towards the Middle East and the former Soviet republics, said replacing Russian troops acting under a CIS mandate in the region would be possible if the other parties to the conflict gave their consent.
"As far as I understand, both Abkhazia and South Ossetia have given clear signals that they do not want [any] peacekeepers except Russians," he said.
Georgian leader Mikheil Saakashvili said the final decision on Russian peacekeepers could be made at a mooted meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The leaders could meet on the sidelines of a summit of the post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States due in Moscow on July 21-23.
Commenting on Georgia's withdrawal of its signature from a bilateral protocol on Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization, Primakov said the issue was not critical.
Georgia's authorities said they had withdrawn the signature over Russia's "discriminatory" customs regime on Georgian exports.
Russia, which imposed a ban on Georgian wines and mineral waters earlier in the year over health concerns, dismissed the move as politically motivated.
"I do not worry much about it, the more important thing is to reach an agreement with the Americans," Primakov said referring to a negotiating process that has stalled.
