Russia seeks to perpetuate Karabakh conflict, Georgian President says

PanARMENIAN.Net - Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili slammed Russia in his UN General Assembly speech, suggesting Moscow's pressure on the Eastern Partnership states.

He specifically mentioned Armenia which was "put in a corner and forced to join the Russia-led Customs Union in spite of its national interests;" Moldavia, "blocked by Russia," as well as Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

During his speech, Saakashvili went on to rail against Russian national interests, casting the Kremlin as an empire that does not want peace between its neighbors, RT said.

"Let's be honest here. Do you really believe Putin wants Armenia to gain the upper hand over Azerbaijan in Karabakh conflict? Not quite so. That would make Armenia too independent. Neither does he want Baku to win, for fear of increased Azeri presence. Russian leadership wouldn't want any side to prevail, a conflict being their goal in blocking the nations' integration into the European Union," he said.

"The Russian Federation has no interest in having stable states around it. Neighboring countries in constant turmoil is what the Kremlin is seeking," he said, adding "an old Empire is trying to reclaim its bygone borders. And ‘borders’ is actually not the right word, since this Empire - be it the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation, or the Eurasian Union - never had borders. It only had margins."

The Georgian President’s speech at the UN General Assembly forced the Russian delegation leave the room, Russia's Permanent Mission to the United Nations said in a statement.

Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, in turn, said Saakashvili should undergo a professional mental health assessment, RFE/RE reported.

Churkin denounced the speech as a "train of crackpot thoughts that were not simply of an anti-Russian, but of a Russophobe, and anti-Orthodox, nature."