Sergey Lavrov: I hope that the current regime in Kyiv will not follow in the footsteps of Mikheil Saakashvili

According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, he hopes that the current Ukrainian government will not repeat the actions of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili in August 2008.

"I hope that the current regime in Kyiv will not follow in the footsteps of Mikheil Saakashvili on the example of August 2008," Lavrov said.

He said the situation had worsened since the NATO summit in Bucharest in 2008, when members of the North Atlantic Alliance wrote in a declaration "after much suffering" that Georgia and Ukraine would become members of NATO.

"The then President of Georgia, Mr. Saakashvili, immediately became agitated and started aggressive military actions, bombing his own citizens and Russian peacekeepers. Ukraine's leadership at the time was more prudent and did not set a bad example," Lavrov said.