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Georgia has nary plans to reconstruct diplomatic relations with Russia owed to Moscow's ongoing beingness successful Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the South Caucasus country's premier minister said Sunday.
“We person nary diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation. We are conscionable pursuing a pragmatic argumentation towards Russia,” Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said astatine a property briefing.
When asked by a writer astir the likelihood of Georgia restoring diplomatic ties with Moscow, Kobakhidze responded: “No, no, no. There are nary plans successful this respect due to the fact that 20% of our territory [Abkhazia and South Ossetia] is occupied by the Russian Federation.”
Russia has provided military, diplomatic and economical backing to Abkhazia and South Ossetia since Moscow defeated Tbilisi successful a five-day warfare successful 2008.
The 2 neighbors broke disconnected diplomatic ties pursuing the warfare and maintain nary ceremonial diplomatic relations to this day.
Kobakhidze's comments followed a parliamentary predetermination seen arsenic a ballot that volition find whether Georgia volition articulation the European Union — and 1 successful which observers reported important violations.
The ruling Georgian Dream enactment claimed triumph connected Sunday with astir 54% of the vote, a effect that absorption parties dispute.
Georgia was gripped by wide demonstrations earlier this twelvemonth against what the absorption saw arsenic authorities attempts to curtail antiauthoritarian freedoms and steer the state of 4 cardinal disconnected its pro-Western people and towards Russia's orbit.
In powerfulness since 2012, Georgian Dream initially pursued a wide pro-Western argumentation agenda.
But it has reversed people implicit the past 2 years.
Its run centered connected a conspiracy mentation astir a "global warfare party" that controls Western institutions and is seeking to resistance Georgia into the Russia-Ukraine war.
In a state scarred by Russia's 2008 invasion, the enactment has offered voters bogeyman stories astir an imminent menace of warfare which lone Georgian Dream could prevent.
Georgian Dream's arguable "foreign influence" instrumentality which targeted civilian nine sparked weeks of thoroughfare protests and was criticized arsenic a Kremlin-style measurement to soundlessness dissent.
The determination prompted Brussels to frost Georgia's EU accession process, portion Washington imposed sanctions connected dozens of Georgian officials.
AFP contributed reporting.
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