Russia says June protests in Tbilisi ‘negatively influenced’ process of normalisation of relations
Russian FM Sergey Lavrov says that his country is interested in the restoration of relations with Georgia. Photo: Reuters.
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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.
In the statement released by the Russian Foreign Ministry Lavrov says that ‘Russia was forced to respond to the provocations and temporarily suspended direct flights with Georgia.’
The statement reads that Russia welcomed the first meeting in 12 years between Russian and Georgian foreign ministers during the UN General Assembly last year, “where the ministers sincerely discussed the challenges in bilateral relations.”
Protests launched in June 2019 in Tbilisi continued for several months. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
However, Lavrov says that comments made in Tbilisi following the meeting were “disappointing.”
We are continually interested in the consequent normalisation of relations [with Georgia],” Lavrov says.
Lavrov states that despite the absence of diplomatic relations Russia is Georgia’s second trade partner with trade turnover amounting to 1.1 billion USD.
Protests in Tbilisi in June 2019 were sparked by the presence of Russian MPs in the Georgian parliament, where one of the MPs, Sergey Gavrilov, took the seat of the Georgian parliament speaker.
Demonstrators said that MPs from a country which occupies 20 per cent of the Georgian territory should not have been allowed into parliament, especially in the seat of the parliamentary speaker.
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 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.
The ruling Georgian Dream party says that the draft resolution of the European Georgia opposition party, which urges for additional international sanctions against Russia, is destructive and will lead to imposing economic sanctions on Georgia.
Georgian opposition MPs have interrupted the 26th Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (IAO) after a Russian MP and president of the assembly, Sergey Gavrilov addressed the audience from the Georgian parliamentary speaker’s chair earlier today.
Several Georgian NGOs and the parliamentary opposition have criticised Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili for her statement made at PACE yesterday, where she said that Georgia is likely to allow a Russian delegation, including Russian FM Sergey Lavrov, into Georgia during the CoE ministerial in Tbilisi in May 2020.
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.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze has responded to Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova, stating that if her words that ‘Russia takes Georgia as a sovereign country’ are not empty, ‘withdraw your troops from Georgian territory.’ Zakharova earlier spoke about the upcoming CoE ministerial in Tbilisi and the recent turmoil around the possible visit of Russian officials to Georgia during the event, stating that ‘visits of foreign officials must not be a problem for any sovereign state’.
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.
The head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Sergey Naryshkin says that the US is undermining the Georgian Dream leadership ‘for its disobedience’ and is backing the country’s opposition.