Putin and Burdjanadze agree on the need to normalize bilateral relations.
On Thursday, talks with representatives of the Georgian opposition were continued in Moscow. This time, they were conducted between Vladimir Putin and Nino Burjanadze, one of Georgia's strongest politicians. She was a parliament speaker and is the leader of the Democratic Movement—United Georgia party.
In Moscow, Burjanadze and Putin agreed that relations between Russia and Georgia must be normalised by all means.
Burjanadze's visit to Moscow has been accorded a higher status than previously announced. Konstantin Kosachev, head of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, told Gazeta on the eve of the talks that the Georgian politician would meet with Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov. Nothing was reported about possible negotiations with Putin.
Burjanadze is not the first representative of the Georgian opposition to be granted an audience with the prime minister; Zurab Noghaideli, leader of the movement For Fair Georgia, met with Putin last February.
In the beginning of the conversation, Putin expressed the hope that bilateral relations would be restored at the pre-conflict level and that this trend would continue "in cooperation with those politicians who would like to have normal relations with Russia." He reminded his interlocutor that the current Georgian leadership had no such politicians.
A belated reunion
ITAR-TASS quoted Putin as saying to Burjanadze: "We have long been acquainted, but much time has passed since we last saw each other. Regrettably, painful, dramatic events took place between our countries since then."
Putin emphasized that the Kazbegi-Upper Lars checkpoint on the Russian-Georgian border was opened a few days ago. He said that its opening creates new infrastructure opportunities for direct contact between the two nations and described it as "the first stage, a rather a symbolic act in the development of Russian-Georgian ties."
Overcoming the deadlock
Burdjanadze agreed that in the last few years, bilateral relations have reached a tragic deadlock. "I'd like to hope that we will manage to find a way out," she said.
Burdjanadze is convinced that normal bilateral relations are not only in Georgia's but also Russia's best interests, and that they are essential for the peaceful development of the region. In this context, she said, the two countries will find opportunities to improve them.
She said that all complicated issues in bilateral relations must be discussed openly and on the basis of restored trust.
Burdjanadze arrived in Moscow on Wednesday. She is the second representative of the opposition to visit the Russian capital after Zurab Noghaideli, the leader of the movement For Fair Georgia, who came in February. At present, she is considered to be one of the most radical members of the opposition to President Mikheil Saakashvili, although during the Rose Revolution, she was one of his closest associates.
Noghaideli has already expressed his attitude to her meeting in Moscow. He considers "meetings of Georgian politicians with Russia's top executives with a view to normalising bilateral relations" to be "extremely important."
He commented that such normalisation is in Georgia's vital interests, and as a result, he views meetings of Georgian politicians with Russian government officials as important and essential.
Wind of change
Alexei Vlasov, the general director of the Centre for the Study of Social and Political Processes in post-Soviet Space, told Gazeta that the event is one of many signaling a wind of change: "It was clear that ending the confrontation would benefit Russia's international prestige. Permanent squabbling with a small country like Georgia is not the best way of enhancing one's image."
Vlasov believes that Moscow has found the right solution – to hold talks not with unacceptable leaders like Saakashvili, but with the opposition that primarily consists of former ministers and parliament speakers who still hold sway on public opinion.
The expert thinks that the movement toward cooperation is reciprocal. Georgia has adopted a programme for South Ossetia and Abkhazia's re-integration, which demonstrates its intention to abstain from a military solution to the problem. Its sponsors in the European Union have made it clear to Saakashvili that it is time for him to change his tune, Vlasov concluded.
Mikhail Smilyan