Georgian, Swiss Presidents Discuss WTO
President Saakashvili met with Swiss President and Foreign Minister, Micheline Calmy-Rey, in Batumi on Monday to discuss Russia’s WTO entry terms.
“She [Calmy-Rey] has informed Mikheil Saakashvili about the Russian position towards the Swiss compromise proposal. The document prepared by the mediator reflects the Georgian side’s demands involving monitoring of cargo movement across the border by international observers and electronic exchange of information. A decision of the official Moscow is not yet known,” the Georgian President’s press office said in a brief statement without providing any details.
Calmy-Rey arrived in Georgia after holding talks with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev on Sunday.
Earlier on October 31, Russian presidential aide Arkady Dvorkovich said that Moscow wanted “only minor changes to the wording” of the Swiss proposal, which has been accepted by Tbilisi last week, Reuters reported. It was not clear on what changes Russia was insisting.
Among the Georgian officials who attended the meeting between Saakashvili and Calmy-Rey were Secretary of Georgian National Security Council Giga Bokeria; Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze and his deputy Sergi Kapanadze, who is one of the Georgian negotiator in the Swiss-mediated WTO talks with Russia, as well as Saakashvili’s advisor Raphael Glucksmann and Georgia’s ambassador to WTO and other Geneva-based international organizations Zurab Tchiaberashvili.