TBILISI. Dec 11 (Interfax) - Georgia should look for ways to reconcile with the people of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in order to achieve a settlement in the South Caucasus, Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili said in parliament on Friday.
"We need new approaches to reconcile with our Abkhaz and Ossetian population in the occupied territories. It's not enough to highlight the occupation without looking for ways to reconcile with the Abkhazians and Ossetians and to restore our unity," Zourabichvili said.
Georgia needs "to end self-isolation" and to stop rejecting dialogue with Russia, she said.
"We need new approaches to deal with the frozen conflicts. We may not believe in a fruitful dialogue [...] but we cannot be the only country which, in contrast to our international partners, rejects diplomacy," Zourabichvili said.
The rejection of "diplomacy and negotiations means the rejection of every tool and a freeze of the entire process," she said.
At the same time, dialogue "does not imply the recognition of anything and negotiations do not imply concessions," Zourabichvili said.