RUSSIAN FM SAYS VERKHNY LARS-KAZBEGI CHECKPOINT TO OPEN SOON

Yerkir
25.02.2010 15:05

Yerevan (Yerkir) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said
on Thursday he hoped that the Verkhny Lars-Kazbegi border control
checkpoint, the only road link between Russia and Georgia, would be
reopened from March 1. The crossing was closed in July 2006.

"I hope the border checkpoint, which has already been brought into
an appropriate condition on both sides, will become operational again
from March 1," Lavrov said.

The Verkhny-Lars Kazbegi border checkpoint was formally reopened last
May, but the lack of diplomatic ties between Russia and Georgia means
it remains for all intents and purposes non-functioning.

Lavrov also accused Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili of having
deliberately attempted to ruin relations between the two neighbors.

Lavrov reiterated Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s pledge that
Russia would not engage in dialogue Saakashvili, but said this did
not mean Russia would avoid broader contacts with Georgia.

"We have never severed contacts between artists, figures of culture,
the intelligentsia and churches. And we have no doubts that the
centuries-long ties between the Russian and Georgian.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress