Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said Moscow is “open to further expanding pragmatic ties” with Tbilisi, reiterating Moscow’s repeated calls for intensified engagement while stressing presently “absent” political contacts with Georgia.
“We are open to further expanding pragmatic ties with Tbilisi,” Galuzin told Russian state news agency TASS, according to the interview published on August 11. “It is obvious that the key to Georgia’s successful development lies not in confrontation, but in cooperation with our country.”
Galuzin made the remarks when asked about the prospects for resuming bilateral political dialogue between Russia and Georgia amid what the reporter described as growing trade and tourism ties between the two countries. The official, however, pointed to the “presently absent” bilateral political contacts.
“As for the bilateral political contacts, they are presently absent,” he told TASS. “The reason lies in the Georgian side’s lack of readiness for such a dialogue,” he said. “It is, of course, difficult for me to judge how this helps Georgia overcome one problem or another, but that is the decision of its authorities.”
According to the Russian deputy foreign minister, relations between Russia and Georgia “are underpinned by centuries-old historical and cultural ties, a shared spiritual foundation,” and, “despite the well-known political differences,” Moscow seeks to build relations with Georgia “based on mutual respect.”
Galuzin also described Russia and Georgia as “natural partners for one another,” citing what he called “the close intertwining” of the two countries’ “historical destinies and geography.” He said this is supported by the fact that even “unprecedented external pressure on Tbilisi,” including what he characterized as “ultimatum-like demands” to refuse engagement with Russia, had failed to produce “the effect that the West had counted on.”
He also pointed to what he described as “significant progress” in trade and tourism in recent years, saying that one in every four tourists in Georgia comes from Russia and that the Russian market is the “main market for Georgia’s key export goods.”
“We welcome this, because we see it as our task to create conditions for expanding humanitarian and business ties, in other words, the ones that matter to the citizens of our countries,” he said.
The remarks come amid repeated statements from Russian officials expressing readiness for closer, “pragmatic” ties with Tbilisi, while praising what they saw as Tbilisi’s pragmatic moves in that direction. In April, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova similarly said that Georgia’s prosperity lies “not in confrontation, but in cooperation with Russia.”
Georgia cut diplomatic ties with Russia following Moscow’s recognition of Georgia’s Russia-occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali/South Ossetia as independent states after the 2008 war, with Russia maintaining a military presence in both regions.
While Tbilisi under the Georgian Dream government has pursued pragmatic, and what critics see as increasingly friendly, policies toward Moscow, Georgian officials have drawn the line at restoring diplomatic ties amid Russia’s continued occupation of Georgian territories.
Also Read:
