NEW YORK, Aug. 8 /EMWNews/ -- Today, in his first interview on

international television since the conflict in South Ossetia, Georgian

President Mikheil Saakashvili told Bloomberg "What we have here is a full

scale Russian invasion of Georgian territory."



    When asked whether Georgia is now at war with Russia, President

Saakashvili said, "Russia has attacked Georgia, that means that Russia is

trying to basically either attack Georgia overall or to chop off a piece of

its territory." He goes on to say, "We are a small freedom-flooded

democratic country with a small population, very motivated, very determined

to defend ourselves."



    Saakashvili accused Russia of "a sheer, clear and blunt aggression that

parallels the worst examples of the 20th Century and certainly is unheard

of and unparalleled in modern times."



    President Saakashvili's comments came after reported aerial bombings

and widespread fighting in the disputed region.



    The 22 minute interview can be viewed in its entirety at:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aA18V3Yj0lCA



    This exclusive news and follow up reports are available to the public

on BLOOMBERG TELEVISION(R) networks and BLOOMBERG RADIO(R) services

worldwide, as well as to users of the BLOOMBERG PROFESSIONAL(R) service.

Clips from the interviews will be archived and available via the BLOOMBERG

PROFESSIONAL service.

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