Georgian PM Visit to Moscow “Postponed” by Russia

Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Georgia Vladimir Chhikvishvili confirmed that the Russian side has decided to postpone the visit of the Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli to Moscow, which was scheduled for the end of this week.

The Ambassador stressed that this was “a posponement, not a cancellation” of the scheduled visit. However, he added that the postponement was caused by the need to “take a pause in the current tense situation.”

Moscow’s refusal to meet the PM comes in the middle of a crisis in bilateral relations, following a February 15 decision by the Georgian parliament to seek a replacement for the Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia. Earlier, on February 20, the Russian Foreign Mnistry held a meeting of the Joint Control Commission on South Ossetia, without the participation of the Georgian side or the OSCE observers.