"Russia supports restoring diplomatic relations with Georgia," says Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova
Georgia-Russia diplomatic relations
Russia supports restoring diplomatic relations with Georgia, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova in response to a question from “Vestnik Kavkaza.”
The initiative mentioned by Zakharova comes from the little-known pro-Russian party “Solidarity for Peace.” Recently, its leaders Mamuka Pipia and Mikhail Zhgenti officially appealed to Russian president Vladimir Putin to fully lift the visa regime for Georgia and restore diplomatic relations between the two countries.
“Vladimir Vladimirovich, I appeal to you to completely lift the visa regime for Georgian citizens,” said Pipia, the party leader and businessman, in his appeal to Putin.
Pipia also asked Putin to grant amnesty to Georgian citizens who violated residency rules in Russia before the visa regime was eased and were deported.
On June 11, the television company “Mtavari Arxi” reported that the ruling party “Georgian Dream” is working with Moscow on opening an embassy there. The Russian Foreign Ministry denied this information, calling it “rumors.”
“I want to remind you that Russia was not the initiator of breaking relations with Georgia. This happened at the initiative of the Saakashvili regime. Since then, the restoration of bilateral relations has been conditional on terms that contradicted the regional realities.
In 2012, the Georgian government initiated the process of normalizing relations. Russia immediately supported this proposal. We will continue to believe that this serves the interests of both countries.
We support any initiatives that promote the normalization of relations between Russia and Georgia. In this context, we welcome the initiative you mentioned. We are ready to follow this path,” Zakharova said.
Georgia severed diplomatic relations with Russia after the 2008 war when Moscow recognized the independence of Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region.
