Relations between the former Soviet states have been strained over the presence of Russian peacekeepers in conflict zones involving two self-proclaimed republics in Georgia and other issues, including a Russian ban on the import of Georgian mineral water and wine.
Russia also suspended travel and postal links with Georgia, shut down at least three casinos in Moscow allegedly owned by the Georgian mafia, arrested Georgian crime bosses and deported hundreds of Georgians illegally living in Russia since a spying scandal involving Russian army officers in Georgia in late September.
"The simple truth is that the recent measures [taken by Moscow] are a part of a huge strategy to put pressure on other neighbors in the region, first of all on Moldova and Ukraine, whose access to the [Russian] market for their goods has been systematically reduced," Zurab Nogaideli said at the Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) session in Vienna, Austria.
The premier said "the recent blockade creates difficulties for Georgia." He said it has resulted in a 1.5% decrease in the Georgian GDP, and a loss of 17% of Georgian markets.
"Those who think that Georgia will die as a result of these sanctions are wrong," Nogaideli said.
The Georgian prime minister also accused Russia of xenophobia, because "over 1,000 Georgian were either deported from Russia or were forced to leave over the last month."
Nogaideli added that the unsettled conflicts in the Georgian breakaway republics remained the main stumbling blocks in relations with Russia, adding that Moscow's allegations on Georgia's alleged intentions to resolve the conflicts by force were wrong.
"In the resolution of the conflicts, the Georgian government and Georgian people do not intend to use force, instigate violence, provoke or do anything that would harm our citizens," Nogaideli said.
Russia retains a UN-mandated peacekeeping presence in Georgia's turbulent regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia which gained de facto independence following bloody conflicts after the breakup of the Soviet Union in the 1990s.
But Alexei Borodavkin, the Russian OSCE representative, said Russia's policy regarding Georgia was adequate and repeated that the South Caucasus country had been maintaining a military course to the resolution of the conflicts with the breakaway republics.
"Tbilisi has been purposefully maintaining a course based on the use of force with regard to the Georgian-Abkhaz and Georgian-Ossetian conflicts," Borodavkin said.
He added that Russia had been doing everything possible to prevent a resumption of armed conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
On October 13, the UN Security Council unanimously approved a Russian-sponsored draft resolution on Georgia urging the ex-Soviet country to refrain from provocative actions in Abkhazia, and calling for an extension of the Russian peacekeeping mission in the region until April 15, 2007.
