Georgy Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
During one of the trials of the associates of the former president, the ex-Speaker of the Georgian parliament, Nino Burjanadze, said that Saakashvili was planning to invade Abkhazia in April 2008, four months before the war in South Ossetia started. She repoted that, after having received an invitation from the National Security Council staff (CIS), she visited Saakashvili and found all the country's top leadership in his office. The specific plans for invasion of Abkhazia by the Ministry of Defense were discussed at that meeting. The secretary of the CIS , Bokeria happily informed the audience of the "Carte Blanche", which he had allegedly received for performing a military operation in Abkhazia , without specifying from whom Georgia could had got a "carte blanche." The measures to "neutralize" Russian troops stationed in Abkhazia were discussed during the same meeting
"When I asked what they expect from a purely military point of view, I was told that every Georgian soldier is worth 50 Russians and we have new military equipment, while Russian tanks rusted a long time ago - recalls Burjanadze. - I said that the Russian army is still stronger, and that our soldiers are outnumbered by Russian military.personnel "She hinted that the most zealous advocates of implementing the operations were Boqueria and Russian Foreign Minister Gregory Vashadze, who at the time was still a citizen of the Russian Federation.
Not having believed the story of the rusty Russian tanks Burjanadze expressed doubts about the appropriateness of the special operation ,but faced the perennial optimism of Saakashvili. "He was planning to reach Sukhumi, but the territory outside it was no longer of interest to him.
Feeling that the head of Parliament was not happy with his Napoleonic plans , the president invited Burjanadze to go with him to the General Staff Headquarters and to get acquainted with the specific plans for fighting the Russian troops and Abkhazian forces. Georgian generals defenitely informed her about the plans , drawings and the direction of the thrust. Now certain that the plan exists and the war with Russia was being discussed in all seriousness , Burjanadze said to the head of the state, that this adventure " would be a disaster for Georgia," and insisted on immediate talks with Putin." He agreed and the talks did indeed take place. According to Burjanadze the Russian president managed to "cool Saakashvili down" , threatening to destroy the armed forces of Georgia and recognize the independence of Abkhazia
How true is Burjanadze’s story? Maybe she was exaggerating acting out of her motives and continuing opposition to the Saakashvili's camp, but the events she mentioned, fit into the picture of April 2008, when almost daily Georgian scout planes were shot down over Abkhazia, and the possibility of an armed conflict was discussed more and more in Moscow and Tbilisi.
