Russia hopes that Ukraine will not go the way of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili "in the manner of 2008. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said this at a press conference.

"I express hope that even the current Kiev regime will not go the way of Mikhail Saakashvili "of the example of August 2008," Lavrov said.

Lavrov said that the situation in 2008 was caused by the NATO summit in Bucharest. It was during this summit, "after long struggles," that NATO members decided to list Georgia and Ukraine as partners.

"Mr. Saakashvili, then president of Georgia, instantly became agitated, it is not difficult for him to do so, and began aggressive military actions, bombing against his own citizens and Russian peacekeepers. The Ukrainian leadership of that time had more prudence and did not follow the bad example," Lavrov told a news conference.

According to TASS, the Russian diplomat also noted that the current Kiev regime demonstrates "somewhat different qualities," in particular, it is "subject to the bad influence" that the West is actively trying to exert on it.

Earlier, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service said that the current situation in Ukraine was similar to that in Georgia before the events of 2008.