After four Russian officers were detained in Tbilisi and charged with espionage last week, Russia suspended travel and postal links with Georgia, and threatened to freeze banking transactions with its southern neighbor. The sanctions remain in force even though Georgia released the Russian officers Monday.
The State Duma has backed the Russian government's efforts to ensure Russia's national interests and security, as well as stability in the Caucasus.
"In the current situation, Russia has a right to implement a set of measures to ensure its security and protect the life and health of Russian citizens, including sanctions against Georgia," the statement says.
Parliamentarians said they were seriously concerned by Georgia's anti-Russian actions and the arrest of opposition members.
"These actions [of Georgian authorities] can be qualified as government-sponsored terrorism, with all the ensuing conclusions and consequences," the State Duma said, adding that such policies were out of line with the interests of Georgia's people and could negatively affect Georgia's future, economy, well-being and its relations with neighboring countries.
After Saakashvili came to power in 2004, he declared accession to NATO and the European Union to be his top priorities.
As part of that policy, his government has been seeking to expel Russian peacekeepers from Georgia's two breakaway republics - Abkhazia and South Ossetia - and to replace them with an international contingent.
