Russia ups the verbal ante

RUSSIA marked the third anniversary of its war with Georgia yesterday by saying it would not renew ties with Tbilisi as long as its “badly-brought up” and “pathological” president was in power.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow would have no direct dealings with Tbilisi while President Mikheil Saakashvili was president.

“We will have no dealings with a man who gave the criminal order to kill peacekeepers and ordered the death of civilians, including Russian citizens,” Lavrov said.