From: “Katia M. Peltekian” <[email protected]>
Subject: TBILISI: Saakashvili: No Political Problems with Armenia
Civil Georgia, Georgia
Aug 23 2005
Saakashvili: No Political Problems with Armenia
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said after talks with his
Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharian on August 22 that the two
presidents discussed opportunities for deepening economic
cooperation, adding that the two countries `have no political
problems’ in bilateral relations.
President Saakashvili paid a two-day informal visit to Armenia on
August 21-22 and met with Robert Kocharian at the latter’s summer
residence on the shore of Lake Sevan. The Georgian President was
accompanied by Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili.
`We are developing close cooperation with Armenia and we can say for
sure that there are no political problems in the relations between
our countries… We can not live separately from each other, hence
economic integration is necessary,’ Saakashvili said at a joint news
conference with the Armenian President.
Robert Kocharian said that the current state of affairs with Georgia
`is a positive signal.’
`Mutual trust between the two presidents is a precondition for
building relations between the two countries,’ President Kocharian
said, adding that these relations should not be a source of concern
for Russia.
`As far as I know [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin, with whom I
also have mutually trustful relations, also attributes great
importance to personal contacts [between leaders],’ the Armenian
President said.