Abkhaz Leader Ready for Talks with Saakashvili

President of the unrecognized Republic of Abkhazia Sergey Bagapsh said, he is ready to hold talks with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, adding that this meeting should primarily be prepared by diplomats.

?Such a meeting should be prepared in advance,? news agency Interfax quotes Bagapsh as saying at a news briefing in Moscow on March 18. 

Bagapsh stressed that restoration of mutual relations between Sokhumi and Tbilisi should start with solving economic issues. ?These issues may interest not only Abkhazia and Georgia, but also Russia and the South Caucasus, as a whole,? the de facto President added.

Speaking about the venue of the forthcoming talks, Bagapsh said, ?we will define it.?
        
President Mikheil Saakashvili?s Spokesman Gela Charkviani said on March 16 that the Georgian President is ready to meet with Sergey Bagapsh ?either in Tbilisi or in Batumi,? in the Adjara Autonomous Republic, but not in the Abkhaz capital Sokhumi, where there are ?no conditions? for this meeting yet.

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)