Islam Times - Georgia PM says willing to hold talks with Russian president

Islam Times - Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili has expressed his willingness to hold negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying that Moscow and Tbilisi should normalize relations.

“I am ready and I am willing to meet Putin…I think that such meeting will take place…we should be consistent and constructive and I hope that step-by-step we will improve relations with our large neighbor,” Ivanishvili said on Monday.

He added, “I hope that with calm, constructive but principled position we will have better results [with regard to our relation with Russia]…I think it is possible to have better results with more patience and less emotions.”

He made the remarks after Putin said that his country planned to normalize diplomatic ties with Georgia.

“We see positive signals from the new Georgian authorities; we respond the same way,” said the Russian president on December 20.

On December 14, Russia and Georgia also held their first bilateral talks in Geneva since the two countries cut diplomatic relations over a deadly war in 2008.