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Georgian prime minister says tensions in relations with Russia ease

The premier says Georgia is looking for an acceptable solution of Abkhazia and South Ossetia issues

Georgia's Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

Georgia's Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili

© AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

UNITED NATIONS, September 22. /TASS/. Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili said tensions in relations between Tbilisi and Moscow have eased but called for more efforts in this direction.

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"We looked for an acceptable solution (to issue on Abkhazia and South Ossetia) with Russia," Kvirikashvili said at the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday. "Tangible progress was reached in reducing tensions," he said, adding however that "Georgia has not received an answer to all the steps."

The prime minister also condemned the vote at the September 18 elections to the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, held in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, recognized by Moscow as independent states.

Relations between the two countries soured when Georgian forces attacked the breakaway region of South Ossetia on August 8, 2008. Russia had to intervene by conducting an operation to protect the citizens and its peacekeepers, who had been in the region since 1992. More than 1,000 people died, including 72 Russian servicemen, during the five-day fighting. Moscow then recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, after which Georgia broke off diplomatic relations with Russia.

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