Putin Offers to Reopen Russia-Georgia-Armenia Railway

(Tbilisi, January 30, 2003. Civil Georgia) – “It would be beneficial even for Georgia to reopen railway connection between Russia, Georgia and Armenia via Abkhazia,” Russian President Putin told the reporters after the CIS informal summit in Ukraine on January 29.

The railway connection between Russia-Georgia-Armenia via Abkhaz region was terminated after the armed conflict in Abkhazia in 1992-93.

After the meeting with Vladimir Putin in Kiev on January 28 Georgian President Shevardnadze said that the Russian President promised to close railway link between Russia and Georgia’s breakaway region of Abkhazia and consider reopening of the railway link parallel to return of IDPs in Abkhazia.

Georgian President said upon his arrival from Ukraine on January 29 that special Russian-Georgian governmental commission, which will work on Abkhazian issue, including the problem of granting Russian citizenship to the population living in breakaway region and the peacekeepers’ mandate deployed in the conflict zone.

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