Banned Russian journalists invite Georgian colleagues to Moscow

Two Russian journalists who were not allowed to enter Georgia on Wednesday have invited their Georgian colleagues to Moscow.

YEREVAN, September 3 (RIA Novosti) - Two Russian journalists who were not allowed to enter Georgia on Wednesday have invited their Georgian colleagues to Moscow.

Georgian border guards refused on Wednesday to let in Maxim Shevchenko, an anchorman for Russia's Channel 1 TV, and Vladimir Mamontov, the editor-in-chief of the Izvestiya newspaper, during passport control on arrival at Tbilisi airport.

Shevchenko said: "We invite to Moscow everyone who failed to hold debates with us... I think there will be no problems and dialogue will continue."

The journalists were traveling as part of a delegation representing a public commission on the consequences of last year's Russia-Georgia conflict, but another member of the delegation, RIA Novosti's CIS and Baltic States Department chief Alan Kasayev, was allowed into the country.

Shevchenko and Mamontov were forced to return on the next flight to Armenia, as there have been no direct air routes between Russia and Georgia since 2006. Flights were renewed for a few months in 2008 until last August's war.

The delegation was to meet with Georgian representatives in Tbilisi on Thursday.