Georgian opposition leader and former premier Zurab Nogaideli will discuss with Russian officials on Wednesday the rebuilding of a WWII memorial demolished in Georgia.
The Glory Memorial in Kutaisi was destroyed in a botched operation on December 19 that claimed the lives of two people. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin proposed that Russia rebuild the monument in Moscow.
"The rebuilding of the memorial destroyed in Kutaisi and Putin's initiative... has been included in the agenda of the discussions," Nogaideli, who is the leader of the opposition movement For a Just Georgia, told journalists at Tbilisi airport on Tuesday evening.
Georgian authorities say the memorial was removed to make way for a new parliamentary building.
The government has said that the relocation of the Georgian parliament from Tbilisi to Kutaisi will boost the development of western Georgia. However, the move has sparked protests among Kutaisi residents and the Georgian opposition.
Moscow earlier said Tbilisi had thrown down a challenge to the entire international community, defying the latest resolution by the UN General Assembly condemning the destruction of WWII memorials.
Nogaideli said he would also discuss with his Russian colleagues the resumption of air traffic between Russia and Georgia, as well as exports of Georgian goods to Russia. Issues relating to the registration of Georgian citizens in Russia are also to be discussed, he said.
The Georgian opposition leader is expected to meet with Russian parliamentarians and government members during his visit to Moscow, the third in a month and a half.
During his previous stay in the Russian capital in late November, Nogaideli said several charter flights between Moscow and Tbilisi would be organized during the New Year holidays.
The Georgian air company Airzena - Georgian Airlines earlier asked Russia's aviation authorities to permit direct charter flights between Tbilisi and Moscow in the period from December 26 to January 15. Russia's transport ministry spokesman said on Tuesday the ministry in considering a Georgian Airways air company's application for the organization of ten charter flights in the periods from December 26 to December 30 and from January 6 to January 10.
Direct air traffic between the Russian and the Georgian capitals was suspended in 2006 due to worsening in relations between the two countries. Later, flights were resumed for a short period, but were cancelled again in August 2008, after a five-day war with Georgia over South Ossetia, which was attacked by Tbilisi in an attempt to bring it back under central control.
TBILISI, December 23 (RIA Novosti)
