Intelligence Chief Says West Bujuk Georgia Opens Second Front Against Russia

JAKARTA - Western countries are trying to persuade Georgia to open a "second front" against Russia, in line with the conflict in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Intelligence Agency (SVR) Director Sergey Naryshkin said in a meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

"We are seeing persistent efforts from Washington, Brussels and London to persuade Georgia's leadership to open up what is called a second front. They see that the situation on the battlefield does not benefit Ukraine," Naryshkin said, launching TASS April 4.

He added that the West was trying to persuade Tbilisi, now is the right time to try to regain control of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Georgia has regularly accused some Western politicians (including Ukraine) of trying to drag the country into a military conflict with Russia.

President Salome Zourabichvili previously stated that he considered speculation about the "second front" as a conspiracy theory.

On April 3, Georgian Prime Minister, Irakli Garibashvili, said no one had the power to stop hostilities in Ukraine. As a result, he stressed, much of the country's territory has turned "into a gun battle."

He pointed out that Georgia's hostile plans to "Ukraine the country," in other words, made Georgia a test ground, too, and to open a "second front" against Russia, had failed. Garibashvili said economic growth and reduction of inflation and poverty in his country were unlikely without maintaining peace.