Georgia’s independence has become a bone stuck in the West’s throat, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at a briefing.

“If we are talking about the international agenda related to sovereignty, independence and non-interference in internal affairs, then modern Georgia is a clear example of unprecedented interference in the affairs of a state that possesses all the characteristics of sovereignty,” Zakharova said.

According to her, “Tbilisi’s desire to pursue an independent policy focused on national interests and its own people is perceived by the collective West as a direct challenge, as a bone stuck in its throat.”

“This irritates representatives of the West so much that they are directly prepared to use every lever of influence to remove a government they do not like, simply because it serves the interests of its own people, simply because it knows its people and its history and builds its future on that basis, rather than serving those who have no connection whatsoever with the Georgian people or its history,” Zakharova said.