The ex-Soviet neighbors are entangled in an intense diplomatic standoff, which has led several countries, including the U.S., to urge them to calm the situation and prevent tensions from spiraling out of control.
Sergei Lavrov said during talks with Gela Bezhuashvili that the meeting will allow the sides to see "what can be done to improve the unhealthy situation" in bilateral relations.
"We are meeting at a less than auspicious period in Russian-Georgian relations," he said.
Gela Bezhuashvili said earlier Wednesday that President Mikheil Saakashvili expects to meet with the Russian leader at a CIS summit in late November.
Gela Bezhuashvili, who is in Moscow for a two-day session of an economic alliance of Black Sea countries, said: "One of the objectives of my visit to Moscow for a session of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization is to discuss with my [Russian] colleagues the possibility of a meeting between the Georgian and Russian leaders."
"Such contacts will be possible in Minsk at a session of the Council of Heads of State of the CIS, which our president plans to attend to seek a possible meeting [with Vladimir Putin]," Bezhuashvili said.
The summit of the leaders of the CIS, a loose union of former Soviet republics, will take place in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, in late November.
The ongoing diplomatic feud began when Georgia briefly arrested four Russian officers on espionage charges in late September. Russia subsequently suspended transport and mail links with the Caucasus state, cracked down on businesses allegedly related to the Georgian mafia in the country, and deported hundreds of Georgians accused of residing in Russia illegally.
Before the current crisis, relations between Russia and its small mountainous neighbor were already strained. The Georgian leadership accuses Russia of backing separatists in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, where Russian troops have been stationed since bloody conflicts in the 1990s.
Russia has, in turn, warned the world that Georgia's openly bellicose statements with respect to the self-proclaimed republics and moves to build up its army can lead to a new wave of violence in the region.
Saakashvili said earlier that the foreign minister's visit to Moscow is aimed at resuming full-fledged dialogue between the two countries.
