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Putin warns Georgian leader against NATO membership

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Russia's president warned his Georgian counterpart on Thursday of potential damage to bilateral relations if the South Caucasus country joins NATO, the Russian foreign minister said.
MOSCOW, February 21 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's president warned his Georgian counterpart on Thursday of potential damage to bilateral relations if the South Caucasus country joins NATO, the Russian foreign minister said.

The two leaders met at the presidential residence in Novo-Ogaryovo near Moscow.

"The issue of NATO expansion was touched upon. [Vladimir] Putin confirmed Russia's firm position that we do not see any real reasons for this process, and explained in detail what consequences it may have, including for Russian-Georgian relations," Sergei Lavrov told journalists after the meeting.

On February 14, Georgia handed a letter to NATO from Mikheil Saakashvili asking for the country to be accepted into the Western military alliance's membership plan.

Lavrov said Putin also told Saakashvili that Georgia should comply with existing agreements on its breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

"Vladimir Putin clearly indicated the conditions normalizing Russian-Georgian relations. He specifically stressed the need to strictly implement all available agreements on the settlement of the Abkhaz and South Ossetian conflicts with full account for the parties' interests," Lavrov said.

"At his meeting with the Georgian president, Vladimir Putin specified conditions for improving bilateral relations," Lavrov told reporters.

Abkhazia's president said on Thursday that the leaders of Abkhazia as well as South Ossetia and Moldova's Transdnestr will meet in the next ten days to draft a plan to gain independence. The regions' drives for independence have been given a boost by Kosovo's recent move to secede from Serbia.

"In a week or ten days, a meeting between the heads of the three unrecognized republics will be held and we will work out the main plan for our further actions," Sergei Bagapsh told RIA Novosti.

South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity said his republic and Abkhazia will request that Russia recognize their independence.

At the Russian foreign minister's news conference he reiterated Russia's stance on Kosovo's independence, saying his country is concerned by "violations of international law over Kosovo's unilateral independence."

Abkhazia and South Ossetia declared their independence from Georgia in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, resulting in bloody conflicts. Georgia's current leadership has been seeking to recover its influence in the separatist regions and secure international support on the issue.

Putin and Saakashvili told reporters before the start of their meeting that they expect relations between the two countries to improve.

"We have taken note of your statement, to the effect that the Georgian leadership is committed to developing relations with Russia. For our part, we will seek, as far as possible, to respond in kind," Putin said.

The Russian Transportation Ministry said earlier on Thursday that Russia and Georgia will resume direct air flights, halted in the fall of 2006, after Tbilisi has paid off its debt to Russia.

"We have informed the Georgian side that direct air links between Russia and Georgia may be resumed after Georgian airlines have settled their debt for air navigation services," the ministry said in press release.

Saakashvili invited Putin to visit Georgia should he become Russian prime minister after presidential elections in Russia in March. By far most likely candidate to be elected Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, earlier proposed that if he wins the election, Putin should become premier.

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