RUSSIAN SENATOR BELIEVES SAAKASHVILI WANTS TO IMPROVE RUSSIAN-GEORGIAN RELATIONS

STRASBOURG, January 29 (RIA Novosti) - Head of the Russian Federation Council's committee on international affairs, deputy chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Mikhail Margelov positively assessed Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili's recent statements on relations with Russia.

"All statements made by the Georgian President contain important signals to Russia," Margelov told RIA Novosti on Thursday.

According to him, Saakashvili makes his interest in the improvement of Russian-Georgian relations clear for us. "It is important what will follow these statements," Margelov stressed.

He believes that "this will much depend on the Georgian President's forthcoming visit to Moscow" in February.

"No threats should come to Russia from Georgian territory," Mikhail Margelov said. In his words, security issues are key aspects in our bilateral relations.

Commenting on Saakashvili's statements that the conflict in Abkhazia (a self-proclaimed republic in Georgia) was "a Russian-Georgian war", Mikhail Margelov said that "the situation in Abkhazia was a result of the civil war in Georgia after the USSR collapse."