Vladimir Putin seeking to depose Georgian President Saakashvili!
PARIS, France - November 13, 2008 - Nicolas Sarkozy saved
the President of Georgia from a threat by Vladimir Putin to depose him from
power and "hang him by the balls," according to an account that
emerged today from the Elysée Palace.
The Russian Prime Minister told Mr. Sarkozy of his plans for deposing the Tbilisi government and disposing of President Saakashvili when the French leader was in Moscow last August to broker a cease-fire in Georgia.
Jean-David Levitte, Mr. Sarkozy's chief diplomatic adviser, reported the exchange in a magazine today ahead of an EU-Russia summit in Nice tomorrow chaired by the French leader and President Medvedev.
With Russian tanks only 30 miles from Tbilisi on August 12, Mr. Sarkozy told Mr. Putin that the world would not accept the overthrow of Georgia, said Mr. Levitte.
"I am going to hang Saakashvili by the balls," replied Putin.
