Georgia, Tbilisi, June 28 / Trend N.Kirtzkhalia /
Despite the actions of Russia, Georgia will continue to carry out a pragmatic policy towards Moscow, the Prime Minister of Georgia Bidzina Ivanishvili said on Friday in Batumi at the opening of the conference on the defence and security of Georgia.
"Inadequate steps followed from Moscow despite a change of rhetoric and the first steps for improving relations with Russia, which wedged into our territory by another 300 metres," Ivanishvili underscored.
Georgia says that Russia sanctioned the demarcation works of Russian frontiers on the border of Georgia's separatist regions.
Large scale military action was launched in South Ossetia on August 8, 2008. Later, Russian troops occupied Tskhinvali and expelled the Georgian military.
Russia recognised the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in late August. In response, Tbilisi broke diplomatic relations with Moscow and announced the two unrecognised republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia occupied territories.
A two-day conference on defence and security of Georgia has started in Batumi. The Georgian Minister of Defence Irakli Alasania, Deputy Prime Ministers Giorgi Margvelashvili and Kakha Kaladze, as well as other members of the Cabinet of Ministers are participating at the event.
The US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence Evelyn Farkas, British Minister for International Security Strategy Andrew Murrison, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Sir Richard Shirreff, commander of ISAF General Joseph Dunford, the Director of Force Planning at the NATO Defence Policy and Planning Division of the NATO International Staff Frank Boland, Polish senator Bogdan Klich and the ambassadors of the NATO member states and heads of the Joint Staff are among the invited guests.
The representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited in Georgia, as well as those of the national security sector, non-governmental and international organisations are also participating in the conference.
Issues such as the Euro-Atlantic security, NATO enlargement, current reforms in the field of defence, the ISAF operation as well as the strategic importance of the Black Sea region and the democratic development of Georgia will be discussed during the two day conference.