It is "unlikely" that separatists in the rebel regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia will be reintegrated with Georgia, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday.
"Unfortunately after what has happened it is unlikely Ossetians and Abkhaz can live in one state with Georgians," Medvedev said at a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Russia is the "guarantor" of security in the Caucasus region and will support the will of the people who live in two Georgian separatist regions, he added.
Although his country does not oppose the presence of international peacekeepers in Georgia, separatists in the region are against the idea, Medvedev added.
"We are of course not against international peacekeepers... but the problem is that the Abkhazians and the Ossetians do not trust anyone except for Russian peacekeepers," Medvedev said.
Merkel said she considered Russia`s reaction to Georgia`s offensive against its breakaway region of South Ossetia as "disproportionate".
