Georgian President comments on outlooks for relations with Russia

Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze spoke against Georgia's secessionfrom the CIS, withdrawing the Georgian Ambassador from Russia and breakingoff diplomatic relations with Russia. He said this at a press conferencecommenting on statements of a number of deputies of the Georgian parliamentwho insisted on taking radical measures in connection with the violation ofthe Georgian airspace by Russian planes on August 23, 2002. According toShevardnadze, Georgia's secession from the CIS will not contribute tosettling aggravation in the Georgian-Russian relations. Additionally,Georgia has good relations with many CIS countries; communication andcollaboration with them is necessary for Georgia, he said.In the opinion of Shevardnadze, the calls of some Georgian politicians towithdraw the Georgian Ambassador from Moscow as a protest against bombingthe Pankisi gorge, will not contribute to solving problems inGeorgian-Russian relations. "We should not yield to emotions; we must thinkabout normalizing bilateral relations and building them up in the future",the Georgian President was quoted by the Black Sea Press news agency assaying..