Azernews.Az

By Sabina Idayatova

The opposition coalition Georgian Dream, which sealed a decisive victory in recent parliamentary elections, has said Georgia will soon start talks with the breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia without Russia's participation, an aide to the coalition chief Bidzina Ivanishvili told reporters on Sunday.

"It is important to establish close relations with the parties and set up a direct nationwide dialogue," Giorgi Volsky told Russian news agency Interfax.

Volsky said the coalition plans to soften the legislation on the occupied territories to usher in a new period of relations with the Abkhazian and Ossetian sides.

"We do not think we should necessarily call them 'puppet regimes'," he said. "It is time to think and talk seriously about the security issues together."

Volsky said it is necessary to expand international involvement in the Georgian-Ossetian and Georgian-Abkhazian relations and prepare "a serious political base for large-scale negotiations".

Abkhazia and South Ossetia are two self-proclaimed republics in the Caucasus with disputed status over whether they are a part of Georgia or sovereign states.

Moscow recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia, after crushing a Georgian assault to reassert control over the breakaway provinces in August 2008. In response, Tbilisi broke off diplomatic relations with Moscow and announced the two unrecognized republics as the occupied territories.

Abkhazia and South Ossetia were recognized by six and five UN member states respectively. They are also mutually recognized by two UN non-member states and by each other.

South Ossetia was recognized as an independent republic by Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Nauru and Tuvalu in the wake of the 2008 South Ossetia War.

Georgia and the vast majority of other countries of the world do not recognize their independence and officially consider them as sovereign territory of the Georgian state.