MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE RUSSIAN
FEDERATION
DAILY NEWS BULLETIN 14.03.2003
Russian State Secretary and First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Valery Loshchinin Meets with Georgian Parliament Deputy Speaker Vakhtang Rcheulishvili
621-14-03-2003
On March 13 Russian State Secretary and First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Valery Loshchinin met with Georgian Parliament Deputy Speaker Vakhtang Rcheulishvili.
During the talk, questions were raised pertaining to the implementation of the agreements reached at the meeting of the Presidents of the Russian Federation and Georgia in Sochi on March 6-7. In particular, discussions focused on the preparations for the restoration of the Sochi-Sukhumi-Tbilisi through railway service, on the modernization of Inguri HPP, and on the return of refugees to the Gali District.
Rcheulishvili in his capacity as the special representative of the President of Georgia for Georgian-Ossetian settlement described how Georgia perceives the situation in the zone of conflict. In the prevailing circumstances, he said, the main thing is to prevent the escalation of tension and to step up efforts to create a favorable climate for the continuation of the negotiating process.
Loshchinin noted that Russia is ready, as before, to do all it can to advance a Georgian-Ossetian settlement. Progress on this road is possible only on the condition of the restoration of trust between the Georgians and Ossetians and observance of the agreements reached within the framework of the negotiating process.
The Georgian parliamentarian, who heads the State Commission of Georgia on preparations for St. Petersburg's jubilee, briefed on plans concerning the participation of the Georgian side in the activities marking this event.
A number of current issues in Russian-Georgian relations were also discussed in the course of the conversation.
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