Georgia says Tbilisi, Moscow diplomatic ties can be restored

(MENAFN) Georgia’s Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili stated on Tuesday that diplomatic relations with Moscow could be reestablished if Russia formally recognizes the country’s territorial integrity, according to reports.

“We have already stated the conditions for restoring relations between Georgia and Russia. These relations can be restored if the territorial integrity of Georgia is recognized by the Russian Federation,” Papuashvili emphasized, referring to Georgia’s breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. He added that Moscow is “well aware” of these conditions.

Earlier on Tuesday, Mikhail Kalugin, director of the Fourth Department of Commonwealth of Independent State Countries at the Russian Foreign Ministry, said that Moscow is serious about normalizing relations with Georgia. “The main thing is that Georgia does not become a 'bargaining chip' in anti-Russian games,” he noted, according to reports.

Kalugin also highlighted that Georgia has not imposed sanctions on Russia and has avoided supporting what he described as a reckless plan to open a “second front” against Moscow. He pointed out that, despite the lack of formal diplomatic relations, active ties between the two countries have generated tangible economic benefits in recent years.

Diplomatic relations between Georgia and Russia were severed in 2008, following Moscow’s recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia—two breakaway regions not widely recognized internationally and not acknowledged by Türkiye.

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