TBILISI, August 8 (Itar-Tass) - Georgia continues to normalize relations with Russia, Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili said.

While visiting Gori on Thursday, Ivanishvili said: “The Georgian government made first steps towards normalizing relations with the Russian Federation. We’ll continue active efforts to improve relations with Russia.”

“We understand very well that this is not an easy process,” the Georgian premier said.

Earlier, Georgian Interior Minister Irakly Garibashvili said the new authorities “chose peaceful and pragmatic ways to settle conflicts.”

“This way will yield results and facilitate the unification of the country”, he added.

In recent months several political parties have said they upheld the Georgian government’s efforts “to normalize relations with Russia”, adding, “Georgia’s non-alignment policy will allow us to improve relations with Russia and create conditions for the peaceful unification of the country.”