Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Grigory Karasin said on Friday that his meeting in Geneva with the Special Representative of the Prime Minister of Georgia for relations with Russia, Zurab Abashidze, was "business-like” and went in a “constructive manner." "We agreed that the dialogue will continue on a regular basis," Karasin noted after the meeting, according to ITAR-TASS.
Grigory Karasin and Zurab Abashidze met, December 14, in the vicinity of Geneva, to hold the first direct negotiations after the break of diplomatic relations between two countries in 2008.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, Maia Panjikidze, said that the meeting will be purely “technical”, and the parties may just agree on the frequency of future meetings and their venues.
Before traveling to Geneva, Zurab Abashidze said in an interview with the TV Company "Imedi" that the upcoming meeting was important to find out how much Russia was ready to start negotiations with Georgia. "The meeting will be an opportunity to discuss our initiative to build new channels for communication and political dialogue between Georgia and Russia. As a result of the meeting, we will find out how much our partners are ready to start a dialogue," the Georgian diplomat said.
Georgia-Russia relations deteriorated following the August 2008 war between two countries, which resulted into occupation of two Georgian provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and later recognition of their independence by Russia. Until now, Moscow refused to hold any negotiations with Tbilisi, unless the later recognizes the “new political reality” – independence of its two provinces – something Georgian, leadership says, can never happen.
Georgia Online
