MOSCOW. Nov 26 (Interfax-AVN) - A Georgian opposition leader insisted on Wednesday that Georgia start talks with Russia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia "without any preconditions and ultimatums."
"We must start negotiations with Russia without any preconditions and ultimatums in order to restore interstate relations, if not to their former quality, then at least in order to eliminate the confrontation," former prime minister Zurab Nogaideli, who heads the Movement for a Just Georgia party, said at a meeting in Moscow with members of the local Georgian community.
He called his current visit to Moscow a "people's democracy move."
"It's people's democracy. I've had meetings in Moscow with Abkhaz and Ossetians in order to have a message passed to Sukhumi and Tskhinvali [capitals of Abkhazia and South Ossetia] that there is another Georgia and there is another opinion," he said.
He insisted that Georgia begin talks with Abkhazia and South Ossetia "without any preconditions and ultimatums" as well. He also argued that Georgia would be unable to build any contacts talks with the two republics without seeking better relations with Russia. "It is impossible to be in dialogue with the Abkhaz and Ossetians and curse Russia at the same time," he said.
Nogaideli's visit to Moscow has included a meeting on Tuesday with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin. The meeting involved "a businesslike exchange of opinions in the course of which a discussion was continued on various aspects of the current problem state of Russian-Georgian relations," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.