Dec 13, 2012

Abkhazia: Not To Be Mentioned In Upcoming Russia-Georgia Talks


Although the new Georgian PM Ivanishvili called for normalization of relations with Russia after his election victory in October, the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia still remains a very sensitive topic.

Below is an article published by Trend News Agency:

Georgian Foreign Minister Maya Panjikidze said Tuesday [11 December 2012]  that the first meeting between Russia and Georgia, which will take place this week in Geneva, will not touch the subject of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, RIA "Novosti" reported.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a meeting with Russian President trustees said on Sunday [9 December 2012] that the meeting of the representatives of the Russian Federation and Georgia will be held in the near future. The Special Representative of the Georgian Prime Minister for the normalization of relations with Russia Zurab Abashidze, confirmed that his meeting with representatives of the Russian Federation will be held in the week, in particular, he will meet in Geneva with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin.

"There are untouchable themes and we all know that one of these topics is Georgia's territorial integrity and freedom of choice. Naturally, our position is well known to our Russian colleagues, and with this position Zurab Abashidze go to Geneva, where he will meet with the Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, but the conversation would not address the topic. Meeting will be purely technical, "- said Panjikidze.

Bidzina Ivanishvili, who became Prime Minister of Georgia after winning his coalition "Georgian Dream" in the parliamentary elections on October 1, called the normalization of relations with Russia as one of its priorities. But Georgia still does not recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and aims to restore the territorial integrity of the country.

Moscow stressed that the decision to recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia reflects current realities and cannot be appealed.