On October 16, 2014, RIAC held a regular expert meeting under its project "Assistance to Russia-Georgia Dialogue", with the Georgian side represented by the International Center on Conflicts and Negotiations (ICCN) and the initiative supported by the government of Switzerland. Experts underlined that Russia and Georgia are no victims to the Ukraine situation despite Moscow's differences with the West. The formats developed during the past several years are still effective, although there is room for their expansion, bearing in mind the emerging dialogue between the Official Secretary of the Russian MFA and Special Representative of Georgian Prime Minister on Russia.
On October 16, 2014, RIAC held a regular expert meeting under its project "Assistance to Russia-Georgia Dialogue", with the Georgian side represented by the International Center on Conflicts and Negotiations (ICCN) and the initiative supported by the government of Switzerland.
The session was opened by RIAC Director General Andrey Kortunov and the ICCN Board Chairman Nino Khitsistavi-Kutsishvili and attended by representatives of Russian Foreign Ministry, Rossotrudnichestvo, business and academic circles.
Moderated by RIAC Program Director Ivan Timofeev, Sergey Markedonov, Associate Professor of Department of Regional Studies and Foreign Policy at Russian State University for the Humanities, and coordinator of program "Assistance to Russia-Georgia Dialogue" Mamuka Areshidze, the debate focused on prospects for advancing the joint project and the status of Russian-Georgian relations, pointing out that security and terrorism pose a major challenge to both countries and countering the threat may provide a platform for their interaction.
Experts underlined that Russia and Georgia are no victims to the Ukraine situation despite Moscow's differences with the West. The formats developed during the past several years are still effective, although there is room for their expansion, bearing in mind the emerging dialogue between the Official Secretary of the Russian MFA and Special Representative of Georgian Prime Minister on Russia.
RIAC and ICCN will go ahead with the project and intend to publish a collection of articles by Russian and Georgian authors on current bilateral issues.
Expert meeting under its project "Assistance to Russia-Georgia Dialogue"