During a press conference on August 1, Valentina Matvienko, Chair of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation said that the Kremlin is ready for dialogue with Georgia. Her statement comes amid the unprecedented deterioration of relations between Georgia and its Western partners over the controversial Foreign Agents Law and Georgia’s democratic backsliding.
“Unfortunately, so far there have been no contacts, understandably not through our fault. There are difficult political processes underway in Georgia, many things are being reconsidered,” she said, and noted about the Parliamentary elections in Georgia in October, which, she said, “will determine the country’s economic, social and political course of development.”
According to her, “if there will be a desire for dialogue on the part of Georgia, we are ready even now, despite the fact that we have no diplomatic relations.” She emphasized the role of the respective parliaments, saying: “This is the mission of parliamentarians, that’s why they are elected by their people, to conduct parliamentary diplomacy, to rebuild bridges, to rebuild friendship…”
“Just as we have always aspired to develop and maintain friendly, cultural and humanitarian relations with the Georgian people, so we continue to do so. You know how many tourists from Russia travel to Georgia and how much they respect the culture of the Georgian people, the cuisine of the Georgian people, its historical and architectural monuments. That is why Georgian people are close to us, friendly to us. Well, let’s see how the election campaign will end. External pressure on Georgia, and we see this, is obviously very powerful, using known scenarios and tools. Well, the decision will be made by the Georgian people,” Matvienko said.
Also Read:
- 22/07/2024 – Russian Official Doesn’t Rule out Possible Help for GD to Remain in Power
- 26/06/2024 – Zakharova: Russia is Ready to Support Endeavors to Restore Georgian-Russian Relations
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