Relations between the two former Soviet republics have been tense in recent months as Georgia's West-leaning government has pressed for Russia to withdraw its remaining troops stationed at two Soviet-era bases, while Russia has banned popular Georgian wine over health concerns.
But Nino Burdzhanadze said she was satisfied with the pace of the pullout. "I am glad that we have signed an agreement with Russia, and that the timeframes are being observed," she said, referring to an agreement signed in March.
Under the document, Russia will withdraw its two remaining military bases - one in the southern city of Akhalkalaki and the other in the Black Sea port of Batumi - by 2008.
The speaker, who is currently in St. Petersburg to mark the 100th anniversary of the Russian lower house of parliament, said she hoped that Russia would proceed with the withdrawal at the same pace and meet the 2008 deadline.
Burdzhanadze said local protests against the exit of the Russian troops were down to residents' fears over their jobs. The bases are the employment mainstay in the affected areas.
"But we will definitely address this issue," she said, adding that enough money would be allocated for the concerned areas.
The speaker, though, was less impressed with the ban on wine, which is one of the country's chief exports, calling the move politically motivated.
"It is a purely political decision, and there is no doubt about it," she said, adding that laboratory tests of Georgian wines in France and Switzerland had shown that they corresponded to the quality standards.
But the parliamentarian said she would have chosen to express herself differently to a blunt comment made by Defense Minister Irakly Okruashvili.
In an interview with Georgian TV, Okruashvili, who took charge of promoting Georgian wines in Europe and other former Soviet republics after the Russian ban on March 27, vehemently criticized some unscrupulous wine producers who sold their products in Russia where, he said, "you could even sell fecal masses."
"I would have expressed the same idea in different terms," Burdzhanadze said.
However, she admitted that counterfeit products were a problem, and called for counter measures.
"It is important to counteract falsification but not by banning wine on the national principle," Burdzhanadze said, adding that Georgia was ready to deal with the problem and invited other countries to join the effort.
In an attempt to settle other differences, Russian and Georgian officials met for two-day talks in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, on April 25-26 and agreed on some sections of the bilateral maritime border in the Black Sea, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The sides signed a protocol to lay down delimitated sections, and agreed to meet for another round of talks in the third quarter of 2006 in Russia.
