Russia ready to help Georgia ‘reconcile’ with its breakaway regions, says foreign minister

Russia is ready to help Georgia “reconcile” with the Moscow-backed breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia should all parties be interested, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Sunday.

Speaking at a press conference at the UN General Assembly in New York, Lavrov told journalists Moscow would be willing to help facilitate a “normalisation of relations” and “non-aggression agreements” between Tbilisi and the two regions, which Russia recognised as independent following its invasion of Georgia in 2008.

“They [the Georgian government] have openly said they want historical reconciliation. The form or manner in which that may happen is for the countries themselves — Abkhazia and South Ossetia — to decide. They are neighbours with Georgia, and some contacts are inevitable,” Lavrov said.

To this day, Georgia and most of the international community consider both regions to be under Russian military occupation. Despite this, the ruling Georgian Dream party has increasingly sought to align the country with Russia in recent months, introducing a controversial law on “foreign agents” and anti-LGBT measures that mirror similar legislation in Russia.

Former professional footballer Kakha Kaladze, who now serves as Georgian Dream’s mayor of Tbilisi, welcomed Lavrov’s comments as “positive”, but suggested Russia should take “practical steps” including developing an “action plan” for the withdrawal of its troops from the two regions.

“Reconciliation must happen, and it must happen only through peace, development, and mutual forgiveness,” Kaladze said.

In an address to the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze reiterated that 20% of the country’s territory remained under “illegal occupation”, but made no mention of Russia. Instead, he expressed his hope that the “broken bridges” between Tbilisi, Abkhazia and South Ossetia could be repaired to create a “happy, united and developed Georgia”.

Earlier in September, Georgian Dream’s billionaire founder Bidzina Ivanishvili drew criticism from the country’s opposition for saying the party would “apologise” for the 2008 war with Russia should it secure a majority at upcoming parliamentary elections in October.