This morning reports came in of Georgian billionaire and opposition agitator Bidzina Ivanishvili lamenting that President Mikheil Saakashvili’s apparent secession on political objectives to Russia joining the WTO, is an act of political cowardice, little more than a craven submission to international pressure. Below is an extract from an analysis by the FT’s Isabel Gorst, who attempts to pinpoint what has prompted the turnaround from Tbilisi, which, up until now, has vociferously defended its right to veto Russian accession to the free trade group:

First, the publicity has helped to remind the world of Georgia’s claims to Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the two breakaway territories now guarded by Moscow’s soldiery. Very few countries have followed Russia in recognising Abkahzian and South Ossetian independence but they have mostly kept quiet about challenging the situation on the ground. A bit of WTO-linked diplomacy puts the matter back on the international table – albeit indirectly.