Georgia and Russia are showing no signs that a breakthrough will be made in improving bilateral relations between the two countries during a visit by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, scheduled for February 18.
The latest in the series of exchange of barbed comments by Tbilisi and Moscow was Sergey Lavrov’s refusal to lay a wreath at the memorial of Georgia’s fallen soldiers during his visit – a decision which was described by his Georgian counterpart Salome Zourabichvili as a “non-neighborly gesture.”
This item was removed from the visit’s schedule at the insistence of the Russian side. As a result, Sergey Lavrov’s visit has also been downgraded by the Georgian side from an “official” visit to a “working” one.
“The representative of the Russian Federation to Georgia said that Lavrov could not lay a wreath at the memorial of Georgia’s fallen soldiers, as is envisaged by the protocol. This is a non-neighborly and inadequate gesture by the Russian side,” Salome Zourabichvili said.
“Despite this fact, we do not intend to further escalate the situation, since it is necessary to continue dialogues. We will receive the Russian Foreign Minister within the frames of a working visit, instead of an official one,” the Foreign Minister added.
Speaking with reporters in the Armenian capital of Yerevan on February 16, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov explained that his refusal to lay a wreath at the memorial of Georgia’s fallen soldiers during his visit is a result of Russia’s mediatory status in the process of resolving the conflicts in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
“This kind of public event could hardly foster an appropriate atmosphere for the resumption of talks over resolution of the conflicts,” news agency RIA Novosti quotes Sergey Lavrov as saying.
This demarche of the Russian Minister follows failed talks over the withdrawal of Russian military bases from Georgia and a framework agreement held between the officials of the two countries in Tbilisi last week.
Following the deadlocked talks, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov blamed Georgia, on February 15, for the standstill which currently persists in bilateral ties between Georgia and Russia.
“During the talks in Tbilisi [on February 10-11] we felt that the Georgian side was not ready to advance some issues and has even stepped back on several others,” the news agency RIA Novosti quotes Lavrov as saying on February 15.
“I hope that my forthcoming visit to Georgia [scheduled for February 18] will help clarify some issues and make progress in our relationship,” Lavrov added.
But Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili said she does not expect a breakthrough after Lavrov’s visit.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov’s warning over Russia’s readiness to pre-emptively strike terrorists anywhere further strained these relations. Ivanov made this statement on February 12, while addressing the Munich Security Conference in Germany and added that “terrorist” are still entering Chechnya from Georgia.
“We have killed so many foreigners in Chechnya carrying passports with a Georgian tourist visa in their pockets…You can’t deny they are penetrating our territory through the territory of Georgia, that’s a fact,” Reuters quoted Ivanov as saying.
Meanwhile, in a statement issued on February 11, the Russian Embassy in Georgia outlined the issues which will be on the agenda during a forthcoming visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to Tbilisi.
The Embassy states that one of the major issues surrounding this political dialogue between Tbilisi and Moscow remains a comprehensive framework agreement, which is designed to outline all aspects of bilateral relations, including two Russian military bases that still operate in Georgia. This issue, which represents only part of the agreement, has yet to be resolved, as the two sides have failed to reach an accord. Georgia remains the only country in the Commonwealth of Independent States which has not signed a framework agreement with Russia, according to the Russian Embassy’s statement.
The statement also emphasizes the necessity of boosting cooperation in a mutual fight against terrorism. “It will only be possible to solve persisting problems, particularly regarding the presence of those persons in Georgia who are linked to terrorism and criminal activities in the Russian Federation, through this [cooperation],” the statement reads.
Closer cooperation between the border guard services of the two countries will also be discussed. The statement by the Russian Embassy reads that providing security of the two state’s border will be more effective “through a strengthening of ties between the border guard services and not through the reanimation of international monitoring [of the Russo-Georgian border], which has already proved its ineffectiveness.”
In this statement the Russian Embassy is referring to the OSCE border monitoring mission, which was halted after Russia vetoed to discuss the prolongation of the OSCE border monitoring mission mandate late last December.
