The conflict between Russia and Georgia is of a political nature - there are no obvious attempts to seize the territory of a neighbor or establish a controlled regime in the country. In such cases, only a small part of the reasons that cause visible consequences are available to the general public. Therefore, objectively, one can speak only about the chronology of events, and one only has to make assumptions about the driving forces.
The apparent roots of the interstate problem that led to the five-day war between Russia and Georgia in 2008 lie in the internal Georgian conflict. This country includes three republics (Abkhazia, Adjara and South Ossetia), which have their own governments. During the collapse of the Soviet Union, they also claimed much greater independence, up to the right to create a separate state or join the Russian Federation.
By the end of the last century, all this led to local wars between the central government, South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The uprisings were extinguished with the mediation of Russia, and armed Russian peacekeepers were deployed in conflict areas to prevent a recurrence of hostilities. Several agreements were concluded between the Russian Federation and Georgia, establishing the status of such peacekeepers and stipulating Russia's participation in the restoration of the republics.
However, this did not lead to a political settlement of the confrontation between the central and republican authorities, but only conserved the contradictions. For example, South Ossetia and Abkhazia did not participate in the presidential elections in Georgia. With the coming to power of Mikhail Saakashvili, the conflicts again entered a military phase, but now the Russian soldiers stationed there have come under attack.
On August 7, 2008, Georgian troops attacked the main city of South Ossetia, Tskhinval, as a result of which, in addition to local residents, peacekeepers were killed. In response, Russia began military actions on the territory of Georgia "to enforce peace", which lasted five days and ended in the defeat of Georgia. After that, the Russian Federation recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and concluded interstate treaties with them, which should provide them with military support in the event of a repeated attack by the Georgian army.
All this led to a confrontation between Russia and Georgia in various spheres - from the ban on the import of Borjomi into the Russian Federation and the tightening of the visa regime, to the blocking of Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization on the Georgian side.
