Georgia's new president in Moscow for talks on disputed issues

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, February 10, 2004

Georgia's new president in Moscow for talks on disputed issues

Georgia's newly elected president Mikhail Saakashvili arrived in Moscow Tuesday for talks aimed at resolving disputed issues.

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Georgia's newly elected president Mikhail Saakashvili arrived in Moscow Tuesday for talks aimed at resolving disputed issues.

During the visit, his first overseas official trip since takingoffice two weeks ago, Saakashvili and his hosts are expected to discuss regional stability, anti-terrorism, border security, the withdrawal of Russian military bases from Georgia and the settlement of the Abkhazia issue, Russian news agencies reported.

Energy cooperation will be another topic.

Abkhazia, formerly an autonomous republic of Georgia, unilaterally declared independence in July 1992. Aside from UnitedNations blue berets, Russia also deployed peacekeeping troops in the region.

Despite mediation by the UN and the international community, the Abkhaz side has refused to start peace negotiations with the Georgian government.

On the eve of his trip, Saakashvili stressed his country's determination to create "a positive tendency in the two countries'relations that were dominated by negative factors in previous years."

"This will provide an opportunity to mark the beginning of an improvement of Georgian-Russian relations," he was quoted by Itar-Tass as saying.

Russian-Georgian relations have been soured by such issues as Chechnya, Russia's attitude toward Georgia's three restive regionsand the withdrawal of Russian troops from Georgia.

Saakashvili, a 36-year-old US-educated lawyer who led a mass protest that forced his predecessor, Eduard Shevardnadze, to resign last November, won a landslide victory in the ensuing presidential race earlier January.

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