Georgia officially announces to Russia its refusal to participate in  "3 + 3" format

ArmInfo.Within the framework of the Georgian-Russian informal dialogue, the online  meeting of Special Representative of the Prime Minister of Georgia  for Relations with the Russian Federation Zurab Abashidze with  Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Federation Council  of the Russian Federation Grigory Karasin took place. This was  reported by the press service of the apparatus of the government of  Georgia.

According to the source, representatives of the foreign policy and  transport departments of the two countries also attended the meeting.  The issues of trade, economic, transport, property and humanitarian  relations were discussed. In addition, Zurab Abashidze pointed out  the difficult situation in Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region. In  particular, there is a deterioration in the humanitarian situation,  facts of human rights violations, including illegal arrests, and the  growing militarization of these regions.

It was emphasized that the Geneva talks between Georgia and Russia  are the main format for discussing security and humanitarian issues.

According to the same source, the Russian side was interested in the  attitude of the Georgian side to the so- called new mechanism of  regional consultations ("3 + 3") and to the specific measures  envisaged in this context. Zurab Abashidze stressed that the Georgian  side is not considering the possibility of participating in this  initiative.

During the conversation, it was noted that in January-October 2021,  there was a positive trend in trade relations between the two  countries compared to the same period last year. Trade turnover  increased by 21.9% reaching USD 1.294 billion, Georgia-online  reports.

It should be noted that the leaders of Azerbaijan and Turkey, Ilham  Aliyev and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, came up with an initiative on a  six-party format (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Russia, Turkey, Iran)  of cooperation on Karabakh and the issue of unblocking economic and  transport ties in the region. This initiative is not yet supported by  Georgia, which refuses to participate in any initiatives with the  participation of the Russian side, and Armenia did not give an  unequivocal answer either. The initiative was proposed after the  signing of a trilateral statement to end bloodshed in the  Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone.  The aggression was unleashed by the  Azerbaijani-Turkish tandem against Artsakh on September 27, 2020.   The fighting lasted 44 days.