The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the US and EU are "heartburned" by the policy of the Georgian authorities

The policy of Georgia's leadership, which aims to protect the country's national interests, causes "heartburn" in the United States and European Union (EU) countries. This was stated by Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin on Monday, December 9.

"We see that the pragmatic policy pursued by Georgia's leadership, focused on observing and protecting the country's national interests, is causing literal heartburn in Washington, Brussels and the vast majority of Western states," TASS quoted him as saying.

The diplomat, noted that Western attacks on Tbilisi are very likely to continue.

"If I understand correctly, the Georgian leadership still has a lot to do to defend its course," Galuzin added.

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Earlier, on December 5, Reuters quoted Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp as saying that the Netherlands would ask the EU to suspend visa-free travel with Georgia because of mass detentions of anti-government protesters. According to him, with such a request the Dutch authorities want to "let the Georgian government realize that the path it has chosen has its price".

Protests are underway in Georgia over the suspension of negotiations on European integration and the opposition's disagreement with the results of parliamentary elections. Protesters tried to set fire to the Georgian parliament building and damaged dozens of offices, and law enforcement agencies had to use tear gas.

Against this background, the US State Department suspended its partnership with the Georgian side and announced its readiness to impose new sanctions. The French Foreign Ministry accused the Georgian authorities of "repression", Latvia banned entry of 13 citizens of the country, and Ukraine imposed sanctions against 19 Georgian politicians.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said that European politicians threatened the country with a Maidan, but another attempt to organize a revolution failed. He also noted that the issue of EU accession was being used to blackmail Tbilisi.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the events in Georgia its internal affair. In his assessment, the protests in the country are an attempt to sway the situation.