TBILISI, June 04. /ITAR-TASS/. Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakly Garibashvili said on Wednesday the country’s government was ready for a direct dialogue with Russia’s top officials but scrupulous preparations for these meetings were needed.
“We’ve already pinned down our readiness for a direct dialogue, but the time will show how, in what format and where it could take place,” Garibashvili told a news conference, adding that “preparations and patience are needed here".
On February 10, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin did not rule out a possibility of a meeting with his Georgian counterpart. As he was addressing reporters in Sochi, a Georgian reporter asked Putin if he was going to have a meeting with Georgia’s president. “If he would like it, why not then,” Putin replied.
On April 21, Georgia’s President Georgy Margvelashvili said that “if such a meeting occurs, then certainly, the most important and difficult issues of relations between Georgia and Russia can and must be discussed."
Georgia will continue exerting every effort to normalize relations with Russia, Garibashvili added. Georgia “takes a constructive position on this aspect”, he stressed.
“We succeeded in overcoming tension in our political relations. We maintain cultural cooperation,” Garibashvili said. He praised the fact that “in 2013 Russia lifted the embargo on Georgian wines, mineral waters and agricultural products”. “The development of trade and economic cooperation has big significance for our country,” Garibashvili said.