Shevardnadze Hopes To Meet With Putin In Moscow

Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze hopes to meet with President Vladimir Putin of Russia and to discuss with him ways of settling the Abkhaz conflict within the framework of the forthcoming CIS summit in Moscow. "We soon expect serious improvement in terms of political settlement of the Abkhaz conflict," the Georgian president said in an interview for the National Radio. He did not specify, however. Earlier, the Georgian minister of foreign affairs made it clear that Tbilisi could use military force against the self-proclaimed republic.