Russia ready to discuss opening of trade representation in Georgia if Tbilisi offers
Russian FM has expressed hope that direct flights between Russia and Georgia will resume soon. Photo: AP.
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Russian FM Sergey Lavrov says that the Russian government is ready to discuss the opening of a trade representation in Georgia if Tbilisi makes such an offer.
During a video conference with members of Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund earlier today Lavrov also said that Russia is ready to discuss the restoration of diplomatic relations with Georgia as ‘we did not initiate the suspension of the relations.’
If we had an embassy the settling of economic, trade or culture issues (with Georgia) would be easier,” he said.
Lavrov expressed hope that direct flights between the two countries, which Moscow suspended last year,will be resumed soon.
We hope that anti-Russian attitudes will not increase in Georgia,” Lavrov said, adding that they were ‘forced’ to temporarily suspend the flights as the Georgian government failed to ensure the safety of its MPs in Tbilisi during an international conference in June 2019.
Russia and Georgia suspended diplomatic relations after the Russia-Georgia 2008 war.
Russia occupies 20 per cent of Georgian territory.
Georgian opposition says that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and the Russian delegation must not be allowed into Georgia during the Council of Europe (CoE) ministerial in Tbilisi in May 2020, which Georgia will host as the CoE chair country.
Russian MP Sergey Gavrilov, whose taking the seat of the Georgian parliamentary speaker in June 2019 sparked large protests in the Georgian capital, has called Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili’s recent statement ‘a serious signal’ for improvements in Russia-Georgia relations.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says that the June 2019 ‘provocations’ [referring to protests in Tbilisi] have negatively influenced the process of normalising relations between the two countries which was launched in 2012 under the Georgian Dream leadership.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says that he would resume direct flights with Georgia, which were suspended in July 2019, as a majority of Georgians ‘have seen the negative sides’ of the ‘provocation staged’ in the Georgian parliament on June 20.He said that the Georgian opposition deliberately sparked unrest in the Georgian parliament after the address of Russian MP Sergey Gavrilov from the seat of the Georgian parliament speaker that day.
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani said in response to his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov that the Georgian legislation does not consider having trade representations of foreign countries.