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Russian and Georgian diplomats discuss future of Russian-Georgian relations by telephone

"Any attempts to make Russia withdraw its recognition of these new realities as a precondition for promoting political contacts are useless," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin ITAR-TASS/EPA/SALVATORE DI NOLFI

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin

© ITAR-TASS/EPA/SALVATORE DI NOLFI

MOSCOW, January 31. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin and Zurab Abashidze, the Georgian prime minister’s special envoy for relations with Russia, discussed bilateral relations between Russia and Georgia by telephone on Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry reports.

Russia’s relations with Georgia, including a possibility to restore diplomatic ties, was among the subjects which Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov raised at a news conference devoted to the results of 2013. According to Lavrov, the two sides’ inability to change the realities that took shape under the former Georgian president, Mikhail Saakashvili, was the fundamental problem of Russian-Georgian relations.

“Any attempts to make Russia withdraw its recognition of these new realities as a precondition for promoting political contacts are useless, counter-productive and have no chance of success,” Lavrov said.

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