On 28 November, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia slammed the Russian MFA over its press release following the online meeting of the Prague format between Georgian Prime Ministers Special Representative in Relations with Russia Zurab Abashidze and his Russian counterpart Grigory Karasin. 

The Georgian MFA emphasised that Russian MFA’s press brief might have included Moscow’s approaches to various topics, but it does not reflect the contents of the talks and that it was not for the first time the Russian MFA  “disseminated wrong information, that uses informal, economic, and humanitarian issues for its political and propagandistic purposes.” The statement added that the discussion between the Georgian and Russian diplomats did not cover Russian Covid-19 vaccine or the June 2019 anti-Russian occupation protests in Tbilisi. The Georgian MFA also stressed that the Geneva International Discussions, which is co-chaired by the UN, the EU, and the OSCE representatives, is the sole platform to address political issues, including grave security and humanitarian situations in Moscow-occupied territories of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) regions.

To note, a day earlier the Russian MFA made a press release after the Abashidze-Karasin meeting, claiming that the meeting “was devoted to the prospect of resuming air traffic between the two countries, but that this depends on the change in the mood in Georgia towards Russia.” The Russian MFA also said that during the conversation, Abashidze agreed with the opinion that the large-scale protests, which ended with many wounded on 20 June 2019 (Caucasus Watch reported), as “an anti-Russian provocation organized by Georgian nationalists.” The statement also voiced Russia’s readiness to cooperate with Georgia in tackling Covid-19, which included the use of vaccines currently under development. According to the Russian MFA, the issue of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali was also on the agenda of the talks. The statement read that both parties indicated that the conflict was about ensuring the safety of the people and to stop provocations and illegal crossings of the so-called state border between Georgia and the two separatist regions.

The Russian MFA’s statement sparked public protests in Georgia. Opposition politicians and civil activists took part in the demonstration. First, the crowd gathered in front of the Foreign Office and the Soviet hammer and sickle were drawn on the sidewalk in front of the building and the inscription ‘20%.’ The protesters then went to the parliament, where they wanted to paint graffiti on the temporarily erected metal fence in the area, but the police did not allow it to be removed. A fight broke out with police and two activists were detained. 

Abashidze denied the claims from Russia’s MFA statement, saying that this was Russia’s interpretation of the meeting. He said that he brought up the issue of Georgia’s separatist regions with specific emphasis on the recently approved program for creating a unified social and economic space between Russia and Abkhazia (Caucasus Watch reported), pointing out that it is viewed by the Georgian side as yet another illegal step toward de-facto annexation.

He added that one of the issues was also the dynamic of trade relations in a 10-month period between January and September 2020. Abashidze said that the pandemic has reduced trade turnover between the two countries and that they discussed transport ties with emphasis on protecting the interests of the Georgian and Russian companies. “In this context, the Russian side mentioned the topic of restoring flights, adding that, with favourable epidemiological conditions in place, this issue could be negotiated, but to that end, it is also necessary to create guarantees for Russian tourists and visitors in Georgia and to stop Russophobe antics. They also expressed hope that, with the elections over, Russophobe antics would also stop. We responded that flights were terminated at the Russian side’s initiative, but this issue can be negotiated once there are adequate epidemiological conditions. But there have been no Russophobe antics against Russian tourists in years,” Abashidze said. 

The Georgian diplomat also said that the conversation also touched on the 2011 Agreement on Customs Monitoring, underlining that, in this period, small progress has been achieved and expressing commitment to facilitating the work of relevant expert groups. Abashidze also underscored that the June 2019 protests were not even mentioned during the meeting.