Georgia, the United States and the UK all placed the blame on Russia’s military intelligence service for last October’s attack, the biggest in Georgia’s history.
Following a new eruption, western embassies in Tbilisi sought to restore talks aimed at preventing the country’s political crisis from spiraling out of control.
International law requires Tbilisi to invite the Russian diplomat to an upcoming meeting. But it would violate Georgian law, and the public reaction would be volatile.
A standoff between Ukraine’s new president and its richest man could set the stage for serious structural reforms – or guarantee Ukraine remains trapped in its decades-old malaise.