Armenia can help Georgia and Russia normalize their relations
03.07.2019,
16:54
Armen Avetisyan, the director of the Armenia-based Javakhk Foundation (Javakhk or Javakheti is a region in southern Georgia with predominantly ethnic Armenian population) said today that Armenian authorities can help Russia and Georgia normalize their strained relations.
YEREVAN, July 3. /ARKA/. Armen Avetisyan, the director of the Armenia-based Javakhk Foundation (Javakhk or Javakheti is a region in southern Georgia with predominantly ethnic Armenian population) said today that Armenian authorities can help Russia and Georgia normalize their strained relations.
He said the Armenian side can serve as a broker, but it should be careful not to cause harm to none of the sides, because it is clear that relations with Russia are an important and sensitive topic for the Georgian society.
Avetisyan was speaking at a panel discussion on how Armenia should respond to the aggravation of Georgian-Russian relations.
In late June Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree, imposing a temporary ban on passenger flights with Georgia from July 8. The ban came after mass protests in Tbilisi, sparked by an uproar over a Russian State Duma delegation’s participation in the 26th session of the Inter-parliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (IAO).
IAO President Sergey Gavrilov, who is also a Russian parliament member, opened the session in the Georgian parliament. Opposition lawmakers were outraged by the fact that Gavrilov addressed the event’s participants from the parliament speaker’s seat. In protest, they did not allow the IAO session to continue.
Georgia and Russia have still not restored diplomatic relations severed after the 2008 war but until lately the countries had begun to reduce tensions, propelled by a flood of Russian tourists visiting Georgia and Russia’s decision to lift ban on wine imports from Georgia. -0-
He said the Armenian side can serve as a broker, but it should be careful not to cause harm to none of the sides, because it is clear that relations with Russia are an important and sensitive topic for the Georgian society.
Avetisyan was speaking at a panel discussion on how Armenia should respond to the aggravation of Georgian-Russian relations.
In late June Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree, imposing a temporary ban on passenger flights with Georgia from July 8. The ban came after mass protests in Tbilisi, sparked by an uproar over a Russian State Duma delegation’s participation in the 26th session of the Inter-parliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (IAO).
IAO President Sergey Gavrilov, who is also a Russian parliament member, opened the session in the Georgian parliament. Opposition lawmakers were outraged by the fact that Gavrilov addressed the event’s participants from the parliament speaker’s seat. In protest, they did not allow the IAO session to continue.
Georgia and Russia have still not restored diplomatic relations severed after the 2008 war but until lately the countries had begun to reduce tensions, propelled by a flood of Russian tourists visiting Georgia and Russia’s decision to lift ban on wine imports from Georgia. -0-
