Saakashvili Comments on Russian Peacekeepers

In an interview with the RIA Novosti news agency Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said on June 14 that he can not predict what the Parliament?s decision would be regarding the Russian peacekeepers stationed in the Abkhaz conflict zone.
 
The Georgian Parliament is expected to discuss the performance of the Russian peacekeepers in breakaway Abkhazia in July, which may result in a demand for their withdrawal.
 
?However, the issue of the peacekeepers cannot be taken out of the context of conflict resolution. There is no progress in conflict resolution. But I hope that against the general background of the improvement of relations, we will be able to advance towards a settlement of the conflicts; then the issue of the peacekeepers? withdrawal would take an entirely different position,? Saakashvili said.
 
Saakashvili, who held talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin late on June 13, also said that currently Russo-Georgian ?relations are in such a bad condition that they just cannot get any worse.?

?The dialogue was suspended, but now we have resumed talking to each other. That is something that is very important to me,? Saakashvili said.
 
The Georgian President said he wants to instruct Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli to be in charge of the Russian-Georgian relationship.
 
RIA Novosti also quoted Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili as saying that the next meeting between the Georgian and Russian Presidents would probably take place in Moscow on July 20, on the sidelines of an informal summit of CIS leaders.

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