(Tbilisi, Civil Georgia, December 12, 2002) - "Troubled relations between Russia and Georgia are left in the past, it is time for cooperation now," Russia's new ambassador Vladimir Chkhikvishvili told the reporters on December 11 after the meeting with the Georgian Foreign Minister.

On December 12 Russian ambassador will hold his first meeting the Georgian President Shevardnadze.

Vladimir Chkhikvishvili said that his Georgian ethnicity would help him in his diplomatic mission in Georgia.

Vladimir Chkhikvishvili, 54, was born in Georgia. Before the new appointment he was the head of the North American Department in the Russian Foreign Ministry.