Russia, Georgia in Talks over Air Traffic Resumption

Vakhtang Lezhava, the Georgian deputy economy minister, left for Moscow to hold talks with Russian officials on February 18 over the possible resumption of direct air flights between the two countries.

“The issue is certainly difficult. We should not expect that it will be resolved immediately, but since we have received positive signals from Moscow, we have reason to be cautiously optimistic,” Lezhava told reporters.

Russia cut air, sea, land and railway links, and postal communication with Georgia on October 3, 2006 – one day after Georgia released four Russian military officers accused by Tbilisi of espionage. Officials in Moscow cited commercial reasons, as well as debt disputes as the motives behind the decision, but Tbilisi claimed the move was political.

The two-day talks in Moscow come ahead of President Saakashvili’s planned meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Moscow on February 21 on the sideline of an informal summit of CIS leaders.