Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili having been decorated with the Armenian Order of Honor is the result of the work of the US Embassy in Armenia, Igor Panarin, Doctor of Political Science and Professor at the Diplomatic Academy the Russian Ministry for Foreign Affairs, said in an interview with Ekho Moskvy (Echo of Moscow), a Russian radio station based in Moscow.

“The largest US Embassy is located in Armenia. And, as a result of the Embassy’s activities, an outrageous fact of the Armenian President awarding an order to the Georgian President nearly on the eve of the first annniversary of the barbaric genocide of Ossetians. This all is actually American influence – real actions in the South Caucasus,” Panarin said.

The other participant in the discussion, Alexey Mitrofanov, a member of the Liberal-Dmocratic Party of Russia (LDPR), at first tried to show understanding of Armenia’s position: “Wait a minute, please! Armenia is caught in a pocket! Should its ties with Georgia get cut, it will come to an end! It is pragmatism. Do you know that not a single drop of petrol came to Armenia during the August events? Armenia suffered the most during the events.”

However, Panarin objected to him and said that “awarding President who committed genocide is not a way out of the situation.”

“Everyone does all he can to survive,” Mitrofanov said again and blurted out “Armenians will leave Georgians behind in joining NATO.”