MOSCOW, July 6 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian and Georgian presidents, who talked by phone Friday, said the 2014 Winter Olympics at a Russian seaside resort would help bring peace to the Caucasus, the Kremlin said.
"Both [presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia] expressed confidence that an event of such a global scale in Russia's south will bring positive changes to the region, helping to ensure peace and understanding in the Caucasus," the press service said.
The press service added that the Georgian president had called his Russian counterpart to congratulate him on Sochi's win. Saakashvili described it as a great victory for Russia, the press service said.
Relations between the two countries have been strained since last September when Tbilisi arrested four Russians over spying allegations, and Russia retaliated by cutting transport and trade links with Georgia, closing its market for Georgian wine and mineral water, and launching a police campaign against ethnic Georgians caught in Moscow without residence permits.
Tensions have also been running high around two of Georgia's breakaway regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Both seceded after bloody ethnic conflicts in the early 1990s. Combined, the two make up about a quarter of the country's territory.
While South Ossetia has repeatedly asked Moscow to recognize it and reunite it with North Ossetia, which is a part of Russia, Abkhazia, where most people have Russian passports, has demanded full independence.
