Kremlin press service acknowledges it received letter from Eduard Shevardnadze to Vladimir Putin

The Kremlin press service has acknowledged that it has received a letter from Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze to Vladimir Putin.

At the Monday press conference in Tbilisi, the Georgian President reported that he sent a letter to his Russian counterpart "in connection with the bombing raids against the Georgian territory." At the same time Shevardnadze alleged that "without a doubt, on August 23rd the Georgian territory came under a bombing raid by Russian aircraft." According to the Georgian President, in his letter to Vladimir Putin "he presented facts and considered the issue of subsequent development of relations between the two countries." The Russian side has flatly denied all allegations by the Georgian authorities that are still failing to submit evidence to substantiate their accusations.

At the press conference Shevardnadze spoke against severing diplomatic relations with Russia, withdrawing the Georgian ambassador from Moscow and Georgia's withdrawal from the CIS. Those were his comments on statements of a number of Georgian legislators who insisted on adopting radical measures in connection with the alleged Russia's bombardment of the Pankisi gorge. Shevardnadze stated that "such appeals would not contribute to an effort to solve problems accumulated in the Russian-Georgian relations, we should not give in to emotions, we should think of bringing bilateral relations back to normal, of how to build them in future." In addition, according to Shevardnadze, "Georgia developed good relations with many CIS states, communications and cooperation with which is crucial."