> Thomas de Waal, a Caucasus specialist at Carnegie Europe, believes it’s a mistake to see any kind of close friendship with Russia. “It’s a business relationship - there’s no diplomatic relationship. Things are going on behind the scenes but they’re more afraid of Russia than wanting to join Russia.”
I presume this is because Georgians know that modern Russian leadership will never let them "join" in a way that isn't a buffer/puppet state or national erasure into second-class citizens.
Depends, did the disappointed crowd get a public airing in multiple different independent court-systems, losing because their "bombshell evidence" of election-fraud turn out to be hearsay or stuff like "some guy saw a thingy and magically knew it was a thumb-drive of fake-votes even though every other person there testified it was a packet of mints"?
I presume this is because Georgians know that modern Russian leadership will never let them "join" in a way that isn't a buffer/puppet state or national erasure into second-class citizens.