Russian Foreign Ministry responds to Giorgi Kvirikashvili. The statement released by the ministry says that the Prime Minister"s statement was carefully looked into and that they welcomed Georgia"s desire to continue and deepen the bilateral normalization process.

Nobody should have doubts that Russia is interested in improving relations with neighboring Georgia and is ready to go as far as Tbilisi is ready for it.

The desire expressed by Giorgi Kvirikashvili regarding progress in the Geneva talks gives us hope for the constructiveness of the Georgian side, which is related to the next round by the end of March. We are convinced that such an approach would be supported by the rest of the participants of the negotiations, regardless of who will lead the Georgian delegation.

It is impossible not to welcome the declared desire for a direct dialogue with Abkhazia and South Ossetia. This is the only real way to deal with the issues bothering Georgia beyond the Russia-Georgia bilateral agenda. In particular, this concerns the recent incident of Georgian citizen Archil Tatunashvili, which causes grief," reads the statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry.