RUSSIA-GEORGIA CROSSING REOPENS

BBC NEWS
urope/8542746.stm
2010/03/01 09:49:10 GMT

Russia and Georgia have reopened a border crossing that has been
closed since July 2006, officials say.

The Verkhny Lars crossing – situated on a narrow mountain pass high
in the Caucasus mountains – was closed by Russia amid deteriorating
relations.

It is the only crossing that does not go through the Russian-backed
breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

The agreement to open the crossing came after a request from Georgia’s
landlocked neighbour, Armenia.

If the unceremonious opening is of benefit to anyone it is to Armenia,
which is landlocked and whose economy is suffering one of the sharpest
declines in growth in the former Soviet Union, says the BBC’s Tom
Esslemont at the border.

No warming

Georgian forces were driven out of the two regions in a bitter war
with Russia in August 2008.

Diplomatic relations between the two have not been restored since
the war.

The crossing was once an important point on a vital trade route,
says our correspondent.

Now that it is open again it brings Georgia and Russia physically
closer, but not politically, he adds.

Georgia says the opening does not signify a warming of ties between the
two countries. Georgian export goods are still under a Russian embargo.

Relations between the Georgian and Russian leaders, meanwhile, remain
sharply antagonistic.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress