Georgia wants to normalize relations with Russia

Source: Xinhua News Agency | 11-26-2006 16:01

MOSCOW, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Georgia does not want a confrontation with Russia and seeks normalization of bilateral relations, President Mikhail Saakashvili said on Sunday.

"We do not want to quarrel with Russia and wish to normalize relations with the Russian administration, yet this process must be held with due consideration of the Georgian national interests," Saakashvili was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

"It is time to improve the bilateral situation together," he said.

According to him, Georgia won't bend to economic sanctions.

"Sanctions can cause only temporary and insignificant problems, but we will overcome them. We are broadening cooperation with other states, which will help us win new markets," he said.

"Besides, sanctions may damage not only the country, which experiences the sanctions, but also the country that introduces them. A way out must be found through dialog," he added.

Relations between Russia and Georgia have dipped since President Mikhail Saakashvili came to power in 2003 amid tensions over Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and the Caucasus Mountains nation's warming relations with the West, including with NATO.

The brief detention of four Russian military officers in Georgia on spying charges late in September triggered strong protest from Moscow and added to an already tense relationship between Russia and Georgia.

Amid the spying row, Russia slapped economic sanctions on the Caucasus nation and deported Georgians accused of staying in Russia illegally.

Editor:Ji Xuewen