TBILISI, DFWatch – Russian President calls his Georgian counterpart clueless and says that sooner or later there will be a new leader in Georgia, with whom Russia can cooperate.

Dmitry Medvedev made this statement during an interview broadcast on a Russian TV channel.

He said Georgia’s President Mikheil Saakshvili will sooner or later leave political history and that Russia is ready to build relations with any other Georgian leader, restore diplomatic relations and ‘go so far as they will be ready.’

“I am sure that all our people have no antipathy towards Georgia. On the contrary, Georgia is a country close to us; the Georgian people are near and dear to us. And we, by the way, saved this people more than once, no matter what some politicians say in Georgia. Therefore, Saakashvili is a blank space, zero,” the Russian president added.

In the beginning of March, both the Georgian leader and the Russian prime minister, who has earlier refused to have relations with Saakashvili, unexpectedly started to talk about cooperation. This came after a decision by Saakashvili on February 28 to unilaterally cancel visa rules for all Russian citizens, after which Vladimir Putin said he hoped there could be found a way out of the problems with Georgia.

Later, in March during a visit to Azerbaijan, the Georgian president spoke about Russia and Georgia’s common past and future.

But then came another controversy, as Russia refused to cancel visa rules for Georgians unless Georgia amends the law on occupied territories. The law applies criminal law responsibility on foreign citizens who have visited the breakaway regions Abkhazia and South Ossetia without express permission from Tbilisi.

Georgia responded that the country will abolish the law when Russia removes its troops from the occupied regions.

The Georgian president says that if the Russian government is ready to return control over the occupied territories to Georgia and remove troops, he is ready to sign an agreement.

“I’m ready to sign an agreement that I and my government are willing to leave, in exchange for returning Georgia’s territories back.”

He made this statement in Rustavi, small town near Tbilisi, while visiting a new road.

“I’m ready to cut off and send parts of my body, towards which they repeatedly expressed interest.” President Saakashvili responded to Medvedev’s statement today. “I’m ready, but they should take away troops from here, give Georgia’s  multi-ethnic population opportunity to develop into internationally recognized borders.”