Ilya Azar, Gazeta.ru
Published: 1:35PM GMT 16 Mar 2010

In an interview with Gazeta.ru, Georgian opposition leader (a former ally of President Mikhail Saakashvili) Nino Burjanadze explained why she met Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Despite the possibility of negative reactions from her countrymen, Burjanadze believes renewing dialogue with Moscow is essential and lays full responsibility for the loss of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on Saakashvili.

What are your lasting impressions of your meeting with Vladimir Putin? What was the aim of the discussions?

Russian-Georgian relations have hit rock bottom. This is not good for either Russia or Georgia. I'm convinced that for the sake of peace in the South Caucasus and Georgia, it is necessary to seek ways of normalising the relationship with Russia so it can be built on mutual trust and respect.

Mr Putin and I had a very interesting meeting. He has a deep knowledge of the Caucasian problems that are disturbing my people.

So not all Georgians share the opinion that the Russian government in general and Putin in particular are aggressors and occupiers with whom it's impossible to have a conversation?

What happened in 2008 was very difficult for Georgia and also to a certain extent for Russia. It is not right to constantly return to the past and resort to name-calling. We must do things that settle problems and not continue to aggravate each other.

Tbilisi's main condition for a renewal of a dialogue is officially a complete removal of troops from Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Do you agree?

Any negotiations that begin with preliminary conditions are doomed to failure. My view is that both within my country and abroad the most important thing is for us to find a way to communicate with the Abkhazians and Ossetians, and for my homeland to become united and indivisible. I am going to make every effort to take the relevant steps toward this end.

As for Georgia's refusal to talk to Moscow until the troops have been removed, I can say that not one Russian soldier will leave Georgia's territory if the governments are not going to talk to one another. This is obvious.

Saakashvili will be ready to step down only in 2013 at the end of his presidential term. Did you and Putin discuss any concrete steps that could be taken to improve relations between the countries in the next three years?

We didn't discuss the end of Saakashvili's term, since this is an interior matter for Georgia. The Georgian nation should decide for itself when the president steps down and who will replace him. It would not be right for Russia or other countries to interfere in this.

Until Saakashvili leaves office there is little opportunity for a breakthrough in relations between Russia and Georgia.

I have never hidden the fact that Georgia needs to hold presidential elections earlier than planned. I don't approve of what Saakashvili did, especially in August 2008. First of all, we need to return the Abkhazians and Ossetians, and then speak about boundaries.

If the opposition succeeds in receiving the support of the nation and gains victories in the early presidential elections, then we will immediately start to solve the problems that have been accumulating not only in Russian-Georgia relations but also in other areas.

In Georgia, the reaction to your visit to Moscow was not unambiguous. For example one of the leaders of your party, Zurab Bigvava, already left the party in protest.

I think that the Georgian government raised this theme on purpose. I emphasize that no one left the party over this, and this includes Bigvava. There were arguments and disagreements about the timing of the visit and its consequences, but no one denied the possibility and necessity of discussions with Russia.

Does this mean that Putin is closer to you than Saakashvili?

It is not right to ask a question about who is closer and who isn't. This is politics, and here such questions are inappropriate. My president broke the fundamental promises he made to our people. He promised to build a democratic state, but violated nearly all the principles of democracy.

Saakashvili ruined our state's prospects for development. He promised to reunite Georgia and solve the problem of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, but in the end lost more territory.

Saakashvili altered the map of our country, and the Georgian people are not going to forgive him for this.

So you think that Saakashvili altered the map of your country, not Putin?

Saakashvili should have foreseen what could result from his actions.

I demand that my president be responsible for the interests of my country. It would not be right to expect Putin or Medvedev to take responsibility for Georgia's interests.

As a citizen and voter, I should be able to expect my president to evaluate the potential consequences of his actions. Therefore it is hardly surprising that I lay more blame on my own president than on anyone else.

Are you worried that Georgian voters won't understand your discussions with Putin?

When average voters receive real information, and not that which comes to them through the prism of television controlled by Saakashvili, I am sure that they will judge what I have done correctly and respond in a positive way.

At present Saakashvili has sort of "zombified" people and there will be those who will criticize me, but this doesn't worry me.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/russianow/politics/7456514/Georgian-opposition-leader-Nino-Burjanadze-on-meeting-Russias-Prime-Minister-Vladimir-Putin.html