Saakashvili Travels to St. Petersburg for “PR” Meeting with Putin

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to discuss their two countries' long-running feud. Analysts and politicians in Tbilisi believe the meeting will do little to improve Georgian–Russian relations.

The two presidents focused on several issues, including the future of the separatist territory of South Ossetia and Russia's embargo on Georgian wine and other products. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. The talks were originally slated to begin at 8 pm local time, but were pushed back for several hours for unexplained reasons.

According to a broadcast by the Georgian television station Imedi, before heading into their meeting, Saakashvili invited Putin to pay a visit the Georgian capital, saying "Tbilisi is a beautiful city." Underscoring the high level of bilateral tension, Putin replied acidly: "It's beautiful because of all the Russian investment." In an another sign of the frosty nature of relations, Saakashvili was met upon his arrival in St. Petersburg by a low-level municipal delegation, the Civil Georgia web site reported.

Against a background of deepening tension with Russia and increased support from Western nations, Georgia hoped that a Saakashvili-Putin meeting on the sidelines of the G-8 summit might create momentum for an improved relationship. Moscow also expressed hope for the summit; a Putin aide, Sergey Prikhodko, suggested June 13 that the talks could provide "a positive impulse" for better bilateral ties, the Interfax news agency reported.

Before departing for St. Petersburg, Saakashvili said he would seek "concrete results" from Putin concerning the array of problems between the two countries. "Tough problems have accumulated in the relationship between us and Russia. Our position was always very concrete and directly stated. We are ready to have very close and very constructive relations with Russia," he told the National Security Council on June 3 when he announced the meeting would take place.

Georgian political observers have characterized the St. Petersburg talks as a "PR meeting." Speaking to members of the Georgian media on June 12, opposition leader Levan Berdzenishvili quipped "[T]omorrow's [World Cup soccer] match between Brazil and Croatia is a more important event.