Tbilisi interested in dialogue with Moscow – premier’s envoy

(Interfax – TBILISI, September 23, 2013) Special Envoy of the Georgian Prime Minister for Relations with Russia Zurab Abashidze believes that the format of his negotiations with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin is productive and that their dialogue will continue.

“We had our fourth meeting last week and we can say that rather complex problems in the restoration of trade and humanitarian contacts between our countries are being gradually resolved,” Abashidze told a press conference on Monday.

“Georgian products have returned to the Russian market without surrendering our national interests or making other essential concessions,” he emphasized.

In his words, Georgia has more interest in the restoration of trade than Russia.

“A seller always has a larger interest than the buyer, especially when a small country comes to a larger country’s market. Trade and politics are interrelated. Whenever we speak about trade and economy we are actually speaking about politics,” Abashidze said.

He also said that Abkhazia and South Ossetia would not participate in the Sochi Olympic Games as independent countries. “We have firm guarantees that neither Abkhazia nor South Ossetia will take part in these Olympic Games as independent states. We do not acknowledge this possibility even theoretically,” Abashidze said.

He said that he asked Karasin about Georgian-South Ossetian border demarcation works at their latest meeting.

“Alas, our position is strikingly different from the position of Russia and a resolution has yet to be found,” Abashidze said.