LONDON. Jan 31 (Interfax) - Tbilisi is prepared to sign a declaration on the non-use of force if Moscow does the same, Georgian Defense Minister Irakly Alasania said.
"We are prepared to sign a declaration, but this should be consistent with reality, and the reality is such that Russia is occupying our territory, while it should be party to our declaration," Alasania said in an interview with BBC on Thursday.
"As for signing this declaration, the Georgian president said at the European Union a year and a half ago that the state committed itself not to resume military actions. We have reaffirmed this repeatedly in various formats. I think it is time for Russia to take the same steps," he said.
"After all, the war was between Russia and Georgia. Russia has occupied a sovereign Georgia, and so this is a conflict between Russia and Georgia, and we should resolve it together. And if Russia takes the same steps, this would be a very constructive step on its part," he said.
Georgia "has no political plans to change the reality by military intervention" in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, he said.
"We will not seek to normalize our relations by provoking conflicts with the Ossetians and Abkhazis through military intervention. The only thing we should do is find ways through which we could cooperate more closely with them in the economic, infrastructural, and other fields," he said.
"I believe this is a very prudent approach, which will promote interconnection between the Abkhazis, Ossetians and Georgians and make it possible then to start negotiations on political status," he said.
"But it is too early so far. We should do everything so that we, the Abkhazis and the Ossetians start talking not about political issues but those the resolution of which our peoples need," he said.
Alasania also reaffirmed Tbilisi's commitment to the Geneva talks.