Kazbegi-Zemo Larsi border crossing point between Russia and Georgia will be reopened tentatively in March, 2010, according to the Georgian Foreign Ministry.

A formal protocol on the decision to reopen the border will be signed within next two weeks, Nino Kalandadze, the Georgian deputy foreign minister, said on December 24.

Russia’s federal agency in charge of border infrastructure (Rosgranitsa) said that the decision was reached during the meeting between Georgia and Russian officials on December 23 in Kazbegi, Georgia. The meeting was held with the mediation of diplomats from the Swiss embassy. Switzerland represents Russia's diplomatic interests in Georgia and Georgia's interests in Russia after the two countries cut diplomatic ties after the August war.

Land traffic between the two countries through Kazbegi-Zemo Larsi border crossing point was closed by Russia in July, 2006; two other border crossing points are located in breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia, but they are considered by Georgia to be operating illegally and entry into Georgia via its breakaway regions is banned by the Georgian law.