TBILISI, December 17. /ITAR-TASS/. This year’s results of Georgian-Russian relations instill optimism, Georgian prime minister’s special envoy for improving relations with Russia Zurab Abashidze said in an interview with Itar-Tass on Tuesday.
An informal bilateral dialogue launched at the end of last year proved a success, he said. “The agenda we set a year ago had been fulfilled by 80 percent and even more,” Abashidze said. “We do not speak about successes or some breakthrough. We are only making attempts to get out of the blind alley and vicious circle we have found ourselves in after the 2008 war.”
The world around us was changing fast and “new challenges and dangerous trends emerge,” he said, adding that in these conditions “non-standard approaches are needed” to respond to them.
The fact that the two countries “have resolved certain problems for twelve months, absolutely does not mean that all opportunities for our dialogue are tapped,” Abashidze said. “We have no diplomatic relations and for two-three months between our meetings some issues that need a solution appear. Therefore in our opinion the importance of bilateral dialogue is evident like that at the Geneva consultations.”
“If the sides seriously manage to move forward in resolving complicated and delicate issues, nothing eternal will remain in politics,” he said. “And now we have to tap opportunities we have.