PM Representative for Russia Relations: meeting of Georgian, Russian experts a “private initiative”

The meeting between Georgian and Russian expert circles in Moscow on March 24 was a “private initiative” and Georgian state structures “did not participate” in it,  Zurab Abashidze, the Special Representative of the Georgian Prime Minister for Relations with Russia, said on Friday.

Abashidze was responding to the news about the meeting that involved around 40 experts and political scientists from the two countries in the Russian capital on Thursday, as revealed by the Russian Foreign Ministry. It also featured representatives of the Georgian diaspora in Russia.

Abashidze called the visit of the Georgian citizens to Moscow “not appropriate or proper” “in the current situation” [of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine] in comments to Georgian media agency InterPressNews.

Archil Talakvadze, the Vice Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, also commented on the meeting. Responding to statements by Grigory Karasin, the Chair of the Russian Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs, on Russia-Georgia relations on the backdrop of the meeting, Talakvadze said “no kind of praise or gestures” by Russian officials would “mean anything” to the Georgian Government.

Talakvadze’s statement echoed comments by Irakli Kadagishvili, an MP of the ruling Georgian Dream party, who said comments by Karasin could not “change Georgia's geopolitical course”.

"In the situation when Russia has invaded Ukraine and hostilities are taking place, we believe that participation in this format by Georgian citizens was not advisable," Talakvadze added.

The Parliament Vice Speaker also reaffirmed Georgia’s strong support to Ukraine in “all international formats”, adding each of Georgia’s policy decisions on its stance on Ukraine was “coordinated” in terms of international and foreign policy.