Zurab Abashidze, Special Representative of the Prime Minister of Georgia for the settlement of Georgian-Russian relations, commented to Kommersant statements Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the newspaper Trud about the possibility of a significant improvement in relations between Moscow and Tbilisi in the near future and the desirability of restoring direct flights. They were interrupted by decision of President Vladimir Putin in response to last year’s unrest in Tbilisi and anti-Russian statements by Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili.
According to Zurab Abashidze, diplomatic relations between the two countries were interrupted in 2008, “after Russia occupied Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region (South Ossetia. – “B”) “. “Russia still grossly tramples on the principles of international law in relation to our country,” the Georgian diplomat noted, stressing that under these conditions “the question of restoring diplomatic relations cannot appear on the agenda of bilateral relations.”
According to Mr. Abashidze, he maintains a “direct telephone connection” with the Russian senator, former Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin and does not exclude a face-to-face meeting with him in the so-called Prague format in September, “as soon as the epidemiological situation allows.” “We will discuss transport, trade and economic relations and some humanitarian issues,” Zurab Abashidze said.
The Special Representative of the Georgian Prime Minister welcomed Sergei Lavrov’s words about the possible resumption of direct flights from Russian cities to Georgia. At the same time, he recalled that the flights were interrupted at the initiative of the Russian side, although “they may well resume as the epidemiological situation in Russia, Georgia and throughout the region improves.”
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