( RIA Novosti ) - Russia's ambassador to Tbilisi has been summoned to the Georgian Foreign Ministry over his recent comments regarding the Georgian nation, a ministry spokesman said Monday.
"The ambassador has been invited to offer explanation on his remarks about the Georgian nation that he made a few days ago in Tbilisi," he said.
Georgia says that at a meeting with cultural figures last week, Vyacheslav Kovalenko, talking about globalization, referred to the Georgians as a dying nation.
A spokesperson for the Russian Embassy in Georgia said Kovalenko's remarks were quoted out of context.
"The comment came in the context that death rates in Georgia and in Russia today surpass birth rates," she said.