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Moscow ready to consider proposal for Russian-Georgian diplomatic meeting

According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Moscow has never discontinued political contacts with Tbilisi and believes the existing forms of dialogue are useful

MOSCOW, June 25. /TASS/. Moscow is ready to study the proposal to hold an emergency meeting between Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin and Georgian Prime Minister's Special Representative for Relations with Russia Zurab Abashidze, if Tbilisi wants that, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters at a news conference on Tuesday answering a question from TASS.

"Concerning information about the planned Karasin-Abashidze emergency meeting, I know nothing. If Georgia wants to hold such a meeting, we will be ready to consider that request," he said.

According to Russia’s top diplomat, Moscow has never discontinued political contacts with Tbilisi and believes the existing forms of dialogue are useful. "I believe the Karasin-Abashidze mechanism was used about 20 times over these years, and it is very useful, as well as the Geneva Discussions on Transcaucasia, the only consultations, during which Georgian representatives talk with representatives of Abkhazia and South Ossetia directly," Lavrov stressed.

"It is fundamentally important not only to preserve them but also to use them more actively to move towards resolving practical issues," he added.

After severance of diplomatic relations between Russia and Georgia in 2008, the Karasin-Abashidze consultations are the only form of official dialogue between the two countries. The two diplomats met for the first time in December 2012. The parties have been discussing practical issues of ironing out ties between Moscow and Tbilisi. The two last met in Prague in October 2018. Some media outlets earlier reported that an emergency meeting between Karasin and Abashidze could be held in view of mounting tensions in bilateral relations.

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Sergey Lavrov Georgia

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