On May 5, 2015, the Georgian city of Kobuleti hosted the “Russia–Georgia: Issues of Regional Security in Light of Russia’s Neighbourhood Policy” conference as part of the Istanbul Process. The event was organized by the Georgian International Center on Conflict and Negotiation (ICCN) in partnership with the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) and with the support of the Swiss Embassy in Georgia.
On May 5, 2015, the Georgian city of Kobuleti hosted the “Russia–Georgia: Issues of Regional Security in Light of Russia’s Neighbourhood Policy” conference as part of the Istanbul Process. The event was organized by the Georgian International Center on Conflict and Negotiation (ICCN) in partnership with the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) and with the support of the Swiss Embassy in Georgia.
The Russian delegation was made up of RIAC Programme Director Ivan Timofeev, Head of the Centre for Preventing Xenophobia and Extremism at the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences Emil Pain, Senior Research Fellow at the MGIMO University Center for the Problems of the Caucasus and Regional Security Nickolay Silaev, Ivan Sukhov (Ph.D.), Head of the Center for Regional Studies at the Institute for U.S. and Canadian Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Nana Gegelashvili, Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Central Asian, Caucasus and Volga-Urals Regional Research at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Skakov, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Economic Policy and Public-Private Partnership at MGIMO University Yury Zaytsev and RIAC Programme Coordinator Alexander Eliseev. The Georgian side was represented by public officials, members of the business community and leading international affairs experts.
Welcoming speeches were delivered by ICCN Chair of the Board Nina Tsikhistavi-Khutsishvili, Ambassador of Switzerland to Georgia Gunther Bechler, RIAC Programme Director Ivan Timofeev and Coordinator of the ICCN Project “Promoting Dialogue between Russia and Georgia” Mamuka Areshidze.
The discussion touched upon pressing issues in Russian–Georgian relations in terms of regional security and as part of the Geneva Process and the Abashidze–Karasin talks. Russian and Georgian international affairs experts agreed that both countries face a number of common challenges and threats, including terrorism and radical Islamism. Such issues can only be resolved through bilateral and multilateral cooperation. For this reason, continuing the dialogue between Russia and Georgia against the backdrop of an increasingly unstable international situation becomes even more important.
RIAC and ICCN would like to thank everyone who participated in the Istanbul Process and hope to further promote the development of Russian–Georgian relations through public and expert dialogue.
