Tbilisi, DF Watch – President Mikheil Saakashvili says it was possible to avoid Russia-Georgian war of August 2008 only if Georgia would give up its statehood. He also remembered details of war saying that more than 100 000 Russian troops crossed the Georgian border during the war.

Russia had actively been preparing for the war with Georgia, especially after Adjarian Rose Revolution, when the ruler of the Black Sea Autonomous Republic’s leader, Aslan Abashidze, was ousted in the wake of mass protests against his authoritarian rule, said Saakashvili on Rustavi 2’s late evening political talk-show on Tuesday.

“War machine was in action. More than 100 000 soldiers entered Georgia in 2008, more than 200 armors, fighter jets,” he said, “was it possible to avoid the war? Yes, if we would give up our statehood.”

According to London based International Institute for Strategic Studies,during five-day war, which resulted hundreds of casualties an thousands of refugees, Russia located about 10 000 troops in Tskhinvali Region and an additional 9 000 troops in Abkhazia.