YEREVAN, October 1. /TASS/. Meetings like the one held between Russian and Georgian Foreign Ministers Sergey Lavrov and David Zalkaliani in New York on September 26 contribute to positive cooperation between two countries, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said commenting on the first meeting between foreign ministers of Russia and Georgia on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly since 2008.
"Any constructive dialogue, even sprouts of such a process, begins with such meetings," he said. At the same time, the Kremlin representative recalled "the hysteria that ensued in Tbilisi after this meeting," pointing out that "it is possibly not the most adequate reaction." Peskov added that the reasons "for taking it so hard in Tbilisi are not clear."
When asked about whether Russia received any signals from Georgia’s readiness to establish dialogue, Peskov said, "Unfortunately, we saw mob signals, signals form the authorities that condoned it when our lawmakers narrowly escaped Tbilisi. We saw these signals and we didn’t like them, while you felt it in Georgia. Let’s hope that we will carry on without such signals."
The spokesman also pointed out that "the Kremlin and broader Russia would like to have great relations with Georgia, while President Putin is always very appreciative about the historic friendly, practically kin relationship between Russians and Georgians, but as for the official authorities, there are still issues here, unfortunately."
On Monday, a protest rally was held in front of the Georgian Foreign Ministry in Tbilisi following the meeting between Lavrov and Zalkaliani in New York.