BEIJING , China ( CNN ) -- Sharpshooters from Russia and Georgia embraced Sunday after earning medals for their countries , which have been teetering on the brink of war since the Beijing Summer Olympics kicked off last week . Russia 's Natalia Paderina and Georgia 's Nino Salukvadze hugged after winning Olympic silver and bronze medals , respectively , in the women 's 10-meter air pistol competition . The rivals kissed each other on the cheek after standing on the medal podium with China 's Guo Wenjun , who won the gold medal in the event . Waving flower bouquets high , the women smiled broadly at the audience . `` If the world were to draw any lessons from what I did , there would never be any wars , '' Salukvadze , 39 , said afterward , according to media reports . The reports described the two as friends . Georgia said it launched an operation in South Ossetia on Thursday after artillery fire from separatists killed 10 people . Russia , whose forces entered the republic Friday , accuses Georgia of plotting to wipe out Ossetians loyal to Russia . Georgia says Russia merely wants control of an oil pipeline . Before Sunday , Paderina and Salukvadze had competed against each other several times , including at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics ; the 2005 European Championships in Tallinn , Estonia ; the 2006 World Championships in Zagreb , Croatia ; and the 2008 European Championships in Winterthur , Switzerland . Salukvadze 's bronze medal marked the first for her country in these Games . She won a silver medal in the same event two decades ago at the Olympics in Seoul , South Korea , where she also took home a gold for the 25-meter pistol competition . Salukvadze was a member of the then-Soviet Union 's 1988 Olympic shooting team . Sunday 's silver medal was first in an Olympics for Paderina , 32 . Despite reports that the Georgia Olympic delegation might return home , team spokesman Giorgi Tchanishvili said Sunday the athletes would stay and compete , according to The Associated Press . Tchanishvili said that the competitors were ready to leave China if it would help the situation back home , but that Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili sent a message saying the athletes should remain at the Games , AP reported . Copyright 2008 CNN . All rights reserved.This material may not be published , broadcast , rewritten , or redistributed . Associated Press contributed to this report .
Reports : Russia says if Georgia learns lesson , ` ` there would never be any . '' Russian , Georgian share hug , kiss after winning silver , bronze medal in pistol event . Georgia 's David Salukvadze won medal in 1988 as part of then - Soviet Olympic squad . Salukvadze , and Paderina will face off in another pistol event this week .