Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili met with his Russian
counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, on Wednesday to mend ties between the
two neighbors that have dipped to a new low since the Caucasus
nation's brief detention of Russian officers in late September.
"We are not meeting in the best period in our relations. I
expect that there will be more clarity as a result of this meeting
about what we are to do to put right what is an unhealthy
situation," Lavrov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying
at the start of talks with Bezhuashvili.
Moscow, infuriated by the arrest of four Russian officers in
Georgia, has imposed an economic blockade on the Caucasus nation by
cutting transport and postal links and deported Georgians accused
of staying in Russian illegally.
Speaking after talks with Lavrov, which Bezhuashvili described
as "very useful," the Georgian minister said Russian sanctions
against Georgia were raised at the meeting. "We certainly did. How
could I not have brought up this issue."
He also said Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili expected to
meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a planned summit
of the Commonwealth of Independent States in Minsk, capital of
Belarus, later this month.
Relations between Moscow and Tbilisi have been strained by
tensions over Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and
Abkhazia and the country's bid to join NATO since Saakashvili came
to power in 2003.
Bezhuashvili said current Georgian-Russian relations were not
normal, but added: "Our openness gives us reasons to think that we
will be able to put the situation on a normal course."?
(Xinhua News Agency November 2, 2006)
