RUSSIA: Georgian Foreign Minister Bezhuashvili seeks improved relations with Russia

Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili said on Wednesday (November 1, 2006) his country hopes to improve relations with Russia following more than six months of tense relations that reached their lowest mark last month over a spying row. Russia cut off all transport links with the small Caucasus nation in response to four of its army officers being accused of spying. Moscow also stepped up explusion of ethnic Georgians residing in Russia, which it said were living in the country illegally. Bezhuashvili arrived in Moscow on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organisation (BSEC). "Today, in the second half of the day I'll meet with my Russian colleauges, and we will hold bilateral negotiations,'' said Bezhuashvili in a news briefing. "I think that things are moving along. I think there is nothing that we can't overcome with Russia. We can overcome any obstacles. It's just a matter of wanting to do this and find the political will. Both sides need to show leadership on these issues. Hence, I am not pessimistic.'' Bezhuashvili also said that one of his goals in Moscow is to negotiate a meeting between the presidents of Georgia and Russia during a meeting of CIS leaders in Minks, Belarus, later in November. Formed in 1992, with permanent headquarters in Istanbul, the BSEC is made of eleven member states - Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine, with the aim of promoting stability, and economic and political cooperation.

ITN Source | November 1, 2006

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