"We do not want to connive in [Georgia's] military preparations, we do not want to arm the Georgian people and indirectly assist those who are urging them to take up arms and go celebrating New Year in Tskhinvali on December 31," Sergei Lavrov said.
Georgia's defense minister earlier said Georgian troops would celebrate the New Year in the capital of its breakaway region of South Ossetia, Tskhinvali.
"I hope the measures we are taking will help to substantially obstruct the flow of funds via these channels," he said.
Lavrov said the situation has not normalized following Georgia's release of Russian military officers it arrested on suspicion of spying.
"We do not want things to be as they were before, because everything was very bad," he said. "In addition to military preparations, in addition to obvious preparations to seize South Ossetia and Abkhazia by force - and such attempts were already made in the summer of 2004 - in this context, continuous anti-Russian rhetoric and insults at the highest level, including personal insults, to the effect that Georgia is surrounded by enemies, cannot possibly be ignored."
"It is outrageous when such rhetoric comes from the leadership. We will not tolerate this," the minister said.
