Azernews.Az

Georgian-Russian relations will be discussed at a meeting of the NATO-Georgia Commission, which will be held at the headquarters of NATO in Brussels on May 22, Georgia's Special Representative for Relations with Russia, Zurab Abashidze, said on May 21 prior to his flight to Belgium.

Abashidze left for Brussels to participate in the work of the commission along with the First Deputy Foreign Minister Davit Zalkaliani.

"We will discuss aspects of our relationship with Russia, including any developments in our talks and the progress of our negotiations with Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin. I will present information on these meetings, and we want to hear the opinion of our NATO partners," Abashidze said.

Deputy minister Zalkaliani also said the meeting of the commission will discuss the state of negotiations within the Geneva format. "The main issue to be discussed at the meeting is preparation of the visit of representatives of the North Atlantic Council to Georgia. The meeting will also touch on the Geneva talks and relations between Georgia and Russia," he said.

Georgia and Russia, its giant northern neighbour, have maintained no diplomatic relations since a brief war in 2008. Tbilisi broke off relations with Moscow in August 2008 when Moscow crushed a Georgian assault to reassert control over the two rebel regions -- South Ossetia and Abkhazia -- and later recognized the breakaway regions. Georgia announced the two unrecognized republics as occupied territories in September 2008.

The NATO-Georgia Commission was established in mid-September 2008 at a meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Tbilisi. The purpose of the commission is to promote Georgia's integration into NATO.