GEORGIAN FM SAYS HE HAD NO PLANS TO MEET PUTIN
Rustavi-2 TV, Tbilisi,
1 Nov 2006
[Presenter] A meeting of the foreign ministers of the Black Sea
Economic Cooperation organization member countries has begun
in Moscow. After the meeting, [Georgian Foreign Minister] Gela
Bezhuashvili will meet his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov at 1800
hours Tbilisi time [1400 gmt]. At 1900 hours [1500 gmt] he will meet
Russian Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov in the Kremlin.
This morning Bezhuashvili met Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan
Oskanyan. The main issue under discussion was the demarcation
of the Georgian-Armenian border. After the meeting, Bezhuashvili
denied reports that he was to supposed to meet [Russian President]
Vladimir Putin.
[Bezhuashvili] It would be a great honour for me to meet President
Putin but this was not planned. This is because I am not here on a
[official] visit but rather I am taking part in a meeting of ministers
held within the framework of an international organization.
No such meeting was planned. I do not know why Russian agencies are
circulating this information.
I’ve met the Armenian foreign minister. We are neighbours. We have
the type of relations that neighbours should have. I was in Baku
yesterday, while today I met the Armenian foreign minister. I will
meet the Russian foreign minister later today. We are trying to
build relations in our neighbourhood of the kind that are appropriate
between neighbours.
[Oskanyan, in English, with Georgian translation superimposed] We are
very troubled by the situation that has taken shape in Georgian-Russian
relations because we are neighbours. I am glad Gela Bezhuashvili is
in Moscow to resolve this problem. In the near future we will travel
to Brussels for a meeting on the EU Neighbourhood Policy. This will
allow us to further strengthen our ties with the EU.