Lavrov: I am starting experiencing a cautious optimism.

Georgia and Russia agreed to intensify negotiations over a set of six issues, which currently top the agenda of the bilateral ties, within the next two months, Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili and her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov said at a joint news conference in Tbilisi on February 18.

Both Ministers outlined the six following issues, which will be negotiated by separate expert groups from both countries over the next two months:

• Comprehensive framework agreement;
• Terms and timeframe of pullout of Russian military bases;
• Setting up of the joint anti-terrorist center;
• Delimitation of the Russo-Georgian border;
• Conflict resolution issues;
• Easier visa regime for Georgian citizens.

“We should report to our President about the results of the work [regarding the work of the experts] within the next two months. And then it is up to the Presidents to decide. It means that our President [Mikheil Saakashvili] will visit Moscow on May 9 [the 60th anniversary of Victory in World War II]; of course if everything goes as both sides wish, [President Saakashvili will] meet President Putin for further agreements,” Salome Zourabichvili said.

“I can say that this visit was very serious and important… This visit did not aim at reaching particular decisions over those six issues. We have agreed, and this is very important, on how to continue working over these issues,” Salome Zourabichvili said.

“The level of understanding has increased [after this visit], at least I hope so… I can see that there is a political will to move forward. But if there are no concrete results over these six issues, we will not be able to tell our society that a new era is starting in Russo-Georgian relations. If there is a progress, I do not mean that there should be 100% progress over all these six issues – I am not completely crazy, maybe a little bit, but not completely - then it will be up to our Presidents to decide about further steps. Let’s wait, I do not want to be pessimistic, or optimistic, I will just say that it is very serious, very difficult and very hard work,” Salome Zourabichvili said.
 
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that he is “not crazy either," but added that he is "starting to experiene a cautious optimism as well.”

“Today we have made additional proposals over the framework agreement and over the concept of setting up of a joint anti-terrorism center. We think that these proposals were perceived [by the Georgian side] constructively,” he said.

Sergey Lavrov said that the two sides “have made a step forward, towards finalizing agreements reached by the Georgian and Russian Presidents” regarding launching discussions over the unsettled issues.

Sergey Lavrov said that during the visit the two sides were able to agree on “key directions” and also reiterated that talks will be intensified regarding the main six issues over the next two months.

He said that the working groups have already been set up and several meetings have also been held, referring to the talks which were held in Tbilisi on February 10-11 over the framework agreement and military bases, which failed to make a breakthrough.

Sergey Lavrov thanked the Georgian leadership for their “hospitality” and invited his Georgian counterpart “to visit Moscow at any convenient time.”

At the news conference, both Ministers had to answer questions regarding the diplomatic row, which preceded the visit, wherein the Georgian side downgraded Sergey Lavrov’s visit from an "official" visit to a "working" one after Lavrov refused to lay a wreath at the memorial of Georgia's fallen soldiers, who died in the fight for Georgia’s territorial integrity in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

“This was a very important fact for the Georgian society, as well as very important moment in diplomatic relations. But our relations and problems which we face are of crucial importance – by saying this I do not want to downplay the importance of the memory of fallen soldiers – and this visit was very important because we want to avoid conflicts similar to those [in Abkhazia and South Ossetia],” Salome Zourabichvili said.

“We honor all victims of all wars which broke out in the early 90s… Today I lay a wreath on the grave of [late Prime Minister] Zurab Zhvania, who brilliantly understood the importance of not resuming bloodshed,” Sergey Lavrov said.

The Russian Foreign Minister’s visit was accompanied by a rally by a small group of Georgians, who were protesting Lavrov’s refusal to honor Georgia's fallen soldiers. The protest rally was also held on February 17 outside the Russian Embassy in Tbilisi by the veterans of the Abkhaz and South Ossetian conflicts, who placed the wreath at the Russia embassy to symbolize, as they put it, “death of Russian diplomacy.”

During his visit to Georgia, the Russian Foreign Minister also held talks with President Mikheil Saakashvili, Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli and Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze.

After meeting with Sergey Lavrov, Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze told reporters that the Georgian side reiterated its “principle position” over the pull out of Russian military bases from Georgia.

“They can not remain here for the next seven or eight years. The issue about the terms and timeframe of their pull out should be solved in a short period of time, in the next two months,” Nino Burjanadze said.