An online meeting was held between Zurab Abashidze, Special Representative of the Prime Minister of Georgia for Relations with the Russian Federation, and Grigory Karasin, member of the Federal Council of the Russian Federal Duma, within the framework of the Georgian-Russian informal dialogue.

As InterPressNews was informed by the Georgian governmental administration, at the beginning of the meeting Zurab Abashidze spoke about the difficult situation in Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region.

"Particular attention was paid to the approval of the program on the formation of a common social and economic space between Russia and occupied Abkhazia, which, according to the Georgian side, is another illegal step towards de facto annexation. These issues will be discussed in more detail during the next round of Geneva International Talks, which is the main format for discussing security and humanitarian issues between Georgia and Russia. The parties reviewed the dynamics of trade and economic relations, transport and humanitarian ties between the two countries in January-October 2020. It was noted that trade relations between the two countries declined somewhat during the period, which was caused by the pandemic. Speaking about transport links, the Russian side noted that in the context of improving the epidemiological situation, it will be possible to consider the issue of restoring direct air traffic between Georgia and Russia,"- reads the information released by the governmental administration.

In addition, taking into account the interest of the Russian side, Zurab Abashidze confirmed that the Richard Lugar Public Health Research Center, which plays an important role in the fight against pandemic in Georgia, will be ready to receive a group of foreign experts, including Russian experts. It was noted that the propaganda in this context was completely unacceptable.

The date of the next meeting between Zurab Abashidze and Grigory Karasin in the Prague format will be specified later.