Zourabichvili: Agreement on Four Issues will Herald Normalization with Russia

Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili told Interfax that an agreement regarding four key issues will lead to the normalisation of Georgia’s relations with Russua.

These issues are: delimitation of the states’ border; simplification of the visa regime; shared understanding of conflict resolution; and the withdrawal of the Russian military bases from Georgia.

“All these issues must be reflected in a joint declaration of the [Russian and Georgian] Presidents, and the signing of such a declaration will signify the opening of a new page in our relations,” Zourabichvili said.

She reiterated that despite the progress achieved in talks over the bases, Zourabichvili will still “refrain from [making] overly optimistic comments until it is absolutely clear that no ‘surprises’ will emerge that would prevent us from implementing our agreements [made with Sergey Lavrov].”

The Georgian Foreign Minister also noted that she is ready to visit Moscow once again in May, to finalize the details of this agreement.

Georgia insists on an extremely detailed outline of the withdrawal, including a schedule of the withdrawal and a specification of the troops and equipment withdrawn at each stage.

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