The well-funded agitation to derail a hydro project in Georgia has the potential to ruin the country's reputation, and severely damage relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan.

The buildup had spawned widespread speculation that the Kremlin was preparing a wide scale invasion. It already controls large parts of eastern Ukraine – the Donbass region – via proxies it supports militarily and financially.

Ankara continues to protest over the move, which citied "Ottoman" forces, rather than Turkey or its precursor, the Ottoman Empire.