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Russia hopes for Georgia's understanding on checkpoint closure

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Russia hopes Georgia will treat the temporary closure of a border checkpoint with understanding and that the move will not impede mutual border crossing at other checkpoints, a senior Foreign Ministry official said Tuesday.
MOSCOW, July 11 (RIA Novosti) - Russia hopes Georgia will treat the temporary closure of a border checkpoint with understanding and that the move will not impede mutual border crossing at other checkpoints, a senior Foreign Ministry official said Tuesday.

Russia closed the Verkhny Lars checkpoint on the border with Georgia for reconstruction early Saturday morning for an indefinite period. The South Caucasus state has protested against the move, saying it was an "unfriendly act."

"We hope Georgia will treat this temporary measure with understanding and will not impede border crossings in other areas," said Mikhail Kamynin, official Foreign Ministry spokesman.

Kamynin said transnational criminal groupings had frequently used the checkpoint for smuggling drugs and arms and planting militants to carry out terrorist attacks on Russian territory.

The spokesman also said Russia was aware that the move had created problems for people traveling via the checkpoint, including from Armenia, and for trade. He said Russia would try to find ways to make up for the inconvenience.

Vaan Ovannisyan, deputy chairman of Armenia's parliament, said Monday that by closing the checkpoint Russia had hit Armenian interests and added the closure was due to difficult relations between Russia and Georgia.

"They [relations] have been worsening rather than improving recently," he said. "Our Russian colleagues must understand that each step against Georgia also hurts Armenia's interests. Therefore, they should be more flexible and careful."

Verkhny Lars checkpoint has been a source of occasional conflicts between Russia and Georgia, the most serious of which occurred in the 1990s, when Russian border guards moved to curb spirit smuggling into the country.

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