Georgia Wants Talks with Russia on Lifting Economic Embargo

Georgia is willing to engage in dialogue with Russia on lifting the embargo on the import of Georgian wine and mineral water, Georgian Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze said on January 9.

?Let?s decide on how and in which form or format we should resume this dialogue,? PM Gurgenidze told his cabinet colleagues.

His remarks followed  a recent call from Russia?s chief sanitary inspector, Gennady Onishchenko, for talks on the issue. Onishchenko, however, said he had received no response from the Georgian side.

?We should respond to Onishchenko’s statement,” the prime minister said on January 9.

Russia banned the import of Georgian mineral water and wine last spring, claiming there were health safety concerns. The authorities in Tbilisi, however, have maintained the move was politically-motivated in an attempt to apply economic pressure on them.

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