Next Round Of Georgian-Russian Talks Scheduled

The next round of talks between Russia and Georgia on the normalization of bilateral ties will be held on February 26.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Aleksandr Lukashevich said on February 19 that Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin and the Georgian prime minister's envoy for relations with Russia, Zurab Abashidze, will meet in Prague for the talks.

The Karasin-Abashidze talks aimed at improving strained relations between Moscow and Tbilisi began in December 2012 in Geneva.

The two politicans have met in the Czech capital, Prague, seven times since then.

Tbilisi ended diplomatic relations with Moscow after Russia recognized the independence of Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia following a short war with Tbilisi in 2008.

Based on reporting by TASS and Interfax