GEORGIA OFFICIALLY BREAKS DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
03.09.2008 13:18 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Georgia on Tuesday formally broke diplomatic
relations with Russia, the Foreign Ministry said.

"The Russian Federation’s envoy in Georgia, Andrei Smaga, has been
summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia and handed
a note informing the Russian Federation that diplomatic relations
between Georgia and Russia are severed," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman
Nato Chikovani said, AFP reports.

"From this moment, there are no more diplomatic relations between
the two countries," she said.

The Foreign Ministry had announced Friday it was cutting diplomatic
ties with Russia but maintaining consular relations.

The move came after Russia recognized two breakaway Georgian regions –
Abkhazia and South Ossetia – as independent countries.

The consular department at Russia’s embassy in Georgia will shut down
on Wednesday following Tbilisi’s formal announcement.