Tbilisi says Putin-Margvelashvili meeting not on agenda
By Jamila Babayeva
The meeting between the Georgian and Russian leaders is not on the agenda, Georgian First Deputy Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani told journalists on April 10.
"The next meeting between Special Representative of Georgian Prime Minister for Russian-Georgian relations Zurab Abashidze and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin will be focused on humanitarian and trade issues. There is no other issue on the agenda," he said.
During Sochi Olympic Games Russian President Vladimir Putin voiced the possibility to meet with his Georgian counterpart. "If he wants, why not?" he said.
Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili, in turn, noted that he needs to consult within the country and with foreign colleagues concerning a possible meeting with the Russian leader.
Zalkaliani said Abashidze and Karasin intended to discuss this issue during the meeting in March. "But that meeting was postponed, and now this issue is not on the agenda of talks," he noted.
Georgia and Russia, its giant northern neighbor, 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 two rebel regions -South Ossetia and Abkhazia- and later recognized the regions. Georgia announced the two unrecognized republics as occupied territories in September 2008.