Second Meeting On Georgia-Russia Relations To Be Held In Prague

Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili (left) and his special envoy for ties with Russia, Zurab Abashidze, in Tbilisi in late 2012.

A second meeting on the normalization of Russia-Georgia relations is expected to be held in Prague on March 1.

The Georgian prime minister's special envoy for ties with Russia, Zurab Abashidze, announced on February 25 that the meeting would take place.

He said he would meet with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin to discuss the restoration of "economic, transport, humanitarian, and cultural ties."

Their first meeting was held in Geneva in December.

That gathering marked the first direct dialogue between Russian and Georgian officials since Tbilisi broke diplomatic ties with Moscow after August 2008's military conflict over Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia.

After that, Moscow recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Georgia's other separatist region, Abkhazia.

Karasin said on February 25 that issues related to the separatist regions will not be discussed.

Based on reporting by RIA-Novosti and ITAR-TASS