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Russian, Georgian diplomats to meet in Prague in mid-November

The sides will discuss cooperation in trade, economy, transport, culture and humanitarian issues

TBILISI, October 10. /TASS/. Georgian Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Relations with Russia Zurab Abashidze and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin will meet in Prague in mid-November.

Abashidze told TASS that "he would agree on the exact date of this meeting with Karasin in the coming days."

At the meeting, the sides will discuss "practical issues of bilateral cooperation in trade, economy, transport, culture and humanitarian issues," the diplomat said.

The talks will be attended by the representatives of the Russian and Georgian Foreign Ministry, Economy Ministry and transport agencies.

In November 2012, Georgia’s then Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili established a post of "the prime minister’s special envoy for relations with Russia" and appointed Zurab Abashidze, a renowned diplomat and the country’s ambassador to Russia between 2000 and 2004.

On December 14, 2012, Abashidze’s first meeting with Karasin, who is the state secretary and a deputy foreign minister, took place in a Geneva suburb, a breakthrough after the cutoff of Russia-Georgia diplomatic ties in 2008. Since 2013, the senior diplomats have been holding three or four meetings a year in the Czech capital of Prague, focusing on cooperation in trade, economy, transport, culture, humanitarian and current issues.

Tbilisi and Moscow stated many times that the meetings in this format have produced positive results in restoring cooperation.