Leak: Karasin, Abashidze Discussed Direct Flights in March 2022
The audio recording surfaced on social media on October 31 seems to counter the argument of the Georgian government that the resumption of direct flights by Russia in April this year was Moscow’s “unilateral” decision, taken without Tbilisi’s explicit approval. The recording, whose authenticity has not been verified, was published by the YouTube channel CyberKmara, which has been online since September 21, 2020, and only published nine videos, all covert recordings alleging to disclose the links of Bidzina Ivanishvili and his government with Moscow.
The recording, apparently taken in March 2022, is allegedly of the two top diplomats in Moscow and Tbilisi who deal with normalizing relations. Grigory Karasin, chairman of the Russian Federation Council’s Foreign Affairs Committee, and Zurab Abashidze, the Georgian Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Russia, discuss the possibility of resuming the direct air link between Russia and Georgia.
The person identified as Karasin places the call to Abashidze to ask for “advice” in the “difficult and multifaceted” situation – the conversation takes place immediately after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Our transport people say that maybe we should discuss the ideas coming from the Georgian side about the resumption of air traffic, the ideas about road transport, and so on,” Karasin can be heard saying, adding that in his opinion at this point “it would be a bit premature to raise and discuss these issues.” “Perhaps I am wrong?” the person identified as Karasin asks, to which Abashidze replies, “No, no, you are right, absolutely right.”
Karasin says it would be better to wait a little until the situation becomes “clearer” and calms down, “otherwise we would bury these good intentions before they could bear fruit.”
“No, no…we are walking on the edge here,” the person identified as Abashidze agrees, adding that “we need to wait for the storm to pass.”
Abashidze’s reaction
Zurab Abashidze confirmed to Interpressnews that such a conversation occurred between him and Karasin in March 2022, adding that there was nothing “scandalous” in it.
“He asked me for my opinion, and I confirmed that it was not convenient to start talking about restoring air traffic between the two countries. This proves that the decision to restore flights with Georgia was made later, independently by the Russian side, which is what we have been saying all along. After this conversation, this issue has not been discussed with Grigory Karasin,” Abashidze said.
Also Read:
- 02/10/2023 – Karasin Says President Zurabishvili Suffers from “Political Schizophrenia”
- 29/08/2023 – Karasin: Russia Does Everything Possible so China and India Recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia
- 18/05/2023 – Russian Official: Russia Seeks More Infrastructure Projects and Links with Georgia
- 02/02/2023 – Karasin-Abashidze Audio Recording Sparks Opposition Criticism
This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)
