"I hope all that talk is ungrounded because otherwise it will be a signal for new bloodshed," Sergei Lavrov said.
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said Wednesday that it had received a warning Georgia was planning a provocation in South Ossetia, timed to coincide with this weekend's Group of Eight summit in St. Petersburg.
Lavrov said, however, that the reports did sound credible.
"It is not the first time we have noticed that the Georgian side may be in the process of staging acts involving [military] force," he said, citing the construction of a military base close to the conflict zone and frequent rotation of peacekeeping troops.
According to the FSB, a man calling the agency's helpline said the goal behind Georgia's planned provocation was to launch a military operation in South Ossetia and that the timing had been chosen in the hope the G8 summit would prevent the Russian president providing full-scale support for the breakaway region. The source claimed he had received the information from circles close to the Georgian leadership.
Georgian Security Council head Konstantin Kemularia called the accusations groundless.
President Mikheil Saakashvili reiterated this week that Tbilisi was not planning a troop buildup in the conflict zone with South Ossetia.
Russia's defense minister, Sergei Ivanov, also said Thursday that Moscow would try to ensure that its peacekeepers in South Ossetia were not threatened.
"Provocations happen routinely there [in the conflict zone], and I have no doubt they will continue," he said.
He also pledged protection for local residents with Russian citizenship. "One should also bear in mind that 90% of South Ossetia's population are Russian citizens."
