Russian Paper: Tbilisi in Talks on S.Ossetia Deal with Moscow

Georgia will try to convince Russia to give up supporting South Ossetian secessionist leader Eduard Kokoity during a meeting of the two countries? foreign ministers on the sidelines of the BSEC summit in Istanbul, the Russian daily, Kommersant, reported on June 25.

According to the newspaper, in exchange, Tbilisi will give its backing to Russia?s WTO accession and agree to Russia?s role as ?an official guarantor? of South Ossetia?s autonomous status.

?We will even agree to Russia?s military presence in Georgia,? Kommersant quoted, as it put it, ?a source in the Georgian government? as saying.

Georgian and Russian Foreign Ministers, however, have both downplayed reports.

?Any allegations made by means of Kommersant would not be serious,? Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, said.
 
?We do not build our policy on the opinions of newspapers and journalists,? Gela Bezhuashvili, the Georgian Foreign Minister, said. 

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