Georgia’s ruling party is ready to "reconcile" with Russia: State Duma says it will not withdraw troops
"Georgian Dream has declared its readiness to "reconcile" with Russia.
This is reported by Censor.NET with reference to Echo of the Caucasus.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that he saw a "sincere assessment of the past" by the Georgian authorities, so Russia is "ready to help".
"They said that they want a historic truce. And it's up to the countries themselves to decide in what form this reconciliation can take place: both Abkhazia and South Ossetia. They are Georgia's neighbours, and some kind of contact between them is inevitable. If all parties are interested in reaching a non-aggression agreement, Russia will be ready to help," said the occupying country's foreign minister.
Kakha Kaladze, Secretary General of the Georgian Dream and Mayor of Tbilisi, said that the Georgian authorities positively assessed the statement by the Russian Foreign Minister.
"Regarding Lavrov's statement that he will facilitate the reconciliation process. What's wrong with that? It's positive. I think everyone understands the mistakes we made many years ago. We should not be ashamed to talk about it," Kaladze said.
"The destructive, radical evil force, the collective National Movement, has created a virtual world of evil together with its masters and is leading us in a vicious circle. This (occupation of the territories - Ed.) is the result of their treacherous policy. Unfortunately, Russia has recognised them, although the entire civilised world does not. These are our territories," he added.
The opposition immediately called the government's reaction a betrayal of national interests.
Earlier, Russian State Duma deputy Konstantin Zatulin, who is the first deputy chairman of the Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, said that Russia was not considering withdrawing troops from the occupied territories of Georgia in any case.
"Will this mean the withdrawal of Russian troops? We have security cooperation agreements... with Abkhazia and South Ossetia. No one is discussing this. What Lavrov said did not mean a possible withdrawal of troops. He said that we need to recognise reality and establish some kind of interaction within the framework of interstate relations. "Lavrov's words should not be understood as Russia wanting to return South Ossetia and Abkhazia to Georgia, this issue has long been closed. And if they establish economic ties between them, it will definitely be a positive thing," he said.
