A sensational letter smuggled out of a hospital prison from Georgia's former leader claims Vladimir Putin was planning Ukraine invasion as far back as 2004.
Mr Saakashvili wrote to The Times, revealing Russia's President voiced his territorial ambitions when the pair met for the very first time in talks held at the Kremlin.
The former President said he then travelled to Germany, hoping to raise concerns about a potential invasion with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder. Mr Saakashvili is no stranger to Russian aggression, his comments come some 15 years after Russia attempted to invade Georgia in what is now viewed by some experts as a precursor to the Ukraine war.
Russia sent troops into Georgia after Mr Saakashvili ordered Georgian troops to attack South Ossetia, a Moscow-backed province that was controlled by separatists. Critics have for years hit out at European leaders for deepening ties with Russia despite the Georgia invasion and Moscow's illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014.He came to power after the Rose Revolution, a non-violent protest movement that ended the reign of former President Eduard Shevardnadze, and presided over a series of sweeping reforms to stamp out corruption and put the country on the road to membership of the EU and NATO.
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