Meeting of Caucasian Quartet Parliament Speakers Opens in Tbilisi

A meeting between parliament speakers of Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia opened in Tbilisi on Wednesday. These countries are members of the so-called Caucasian Quartet.

The participants in the meeting will consider issues of regional security, preserving peace in the Caucasus and expanding bilateral and multilateral co-operation. The current forum has no established agenda - the speakers are supposed to discuss the most pressing issues. They will report to the heads of state on the meeting's results.

Georgian parliament speaker Nino Burdzhanadze told journalists before the meeting that the meeting would be held "in a constructive atmosphere".

The Russian delegation to the meeting is headed by Chairman of the Federation Council (upper house) Sergei Mironov. Before setting off for Tbilisi, Mironov said he had "certain proposals" to voice at the meeting, but thought it premature to reveal them, as the discussion would be held behind closed doors as usual.