Georgian envoy says US understands need for further dialogue between Georgia, Russia

TBILISI, May 12. /TASS/. The United States understands "the need to continue Georgian-Russian dialogue on practical issues", the Georgian prime minister’s special representative for relations with Russia, Zurab Abashidze, said on Tuesday after talks with Charles Kupchan, Obama's top adviser for European affairs,.

Abashidze told journalists that during their meeting in Tbilisi, he and Kupchan "discussed the current state of relations between Georgia and Russia".

"We have talked about problems existing in Georgian-Russian relations," he said. "There is complete understanding in the United States that it is necessary to maintain and continue dialogue between Georgia and Russia, no matter how difficult this process may be."

Kupchan said he would also hold talks with Georgian government officials and opposition representatives later on Tuesday, adding that there were plans to consider issues of Euro-Atlantic integration and Georgian-Russian relations.

Earlier, Abashidze reiterated that "it is necessary to preserve a means of communication between Georgia and Russia".

Starting December 2012, Abashidze and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin regularly meet for talks.

The first meeting between the official representatives of the two sides since hostilities over the bordering South Ossetia region flared in 2008 opened near Geneva on December 14, 2012. The next meetings were held in Prague in 2013 and 2014 to discuss economic, humanitarian and cultural cooperation of the two countries.