Russia: president to hold informal talks with CIS-leaders

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili had planned to fly to Moscow Friday, but his administration chief Georgy Arveladze unexpectedly said he had postponed his trip. He did not state reasons for the decision, or clarify whether the postponement meant Saakashvili was canceling the visit or delaying it.

Photo: Russia: president to hold informal talks with CIS-leaders

Russia: president to hold informal talks with CIS-leaders

There have been persistently tense relations between Russia and Georgia, which Saakashvili had been expected to discuss with President Vladimir Putin on the summit sidelines. In the run-up to the summit, however, the Kremlin never confirmed that Putin would hold separate talks with Saakashvili.

Arveladze gave no reason for the postponement and did not say whether Saakashvili might travel to Moscow in the coming days, according to the AP.

Georgia's parliament recently passed a resolution calling for the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers whose presence in two separatist Georgian regions, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, is one of a host of irritants in ties between both nations.

The parliament resolution has widely been seen as a bid to strengthen Saakashvili's position in talks with Putin.