Georgian PM for 'direct dialogue' with breakaway regions
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 9 August 2013 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Georgian PM for 'direct dialogue' with breakaway regions, 9 August 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/521f463214.html [accessed 29 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
August 09, 2013
By RFE/RL's Georgian Service
Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili attends a wreath-laying ceremony at a cemetery in Tbilisi on August 8.
TBILISI – Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili says Tbilisi is ready for "direct dialogue with our Ossetian and Abkhazian brothers."
The comment came in a speech to newly enlisted soldiers in the eastern city of Gori on August 8 – the fifth anniversary of the Georgian-Russian war over Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia.
Ivanishvili said Georgia should have the strength "to forgive" but also to admit its "own mistakes." He did not say what those were.
Ivanishvili also said that Georgia must normalize relations with Russia and reintegrate Abkhazia and South Ossetia into Georgia.
The five-day war of August 2008 resulted in Russian forces pushing Georgian troops out of South Ossetia and Moscow recognizing the independence of South Ossetia and Georgia's other separatist region of Abkhazia.
Russia has troops stationed in both territories.
With reporting by Apsny.ge
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
