Moscow, March 29 (RFE/RL) - A Russian military delegation led by head of General Staff General Mikhail Kolesnikov today opens a four-day visit to Georgia.
RFE/RL correspondent quotes the Russian Defence Ministry as saying that talks with Georgian leaders will focus on a settlement of the conflict in breakaway Abkhazia.
The Russian delegation is expected to meet Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze to determine the status of some 3,000 Russian peace-keepers stationed at the border between Georgia and Abkhazia.
Sheverdnadze's spokesman Vakhtang Abishidze said yesterday that Russian Foreign and Defense Ministers - Evgeny Primakov and Pavel Grachev - will soon visit Tbilisi to discuss the Abkhazian crisis.
Meanwhile, Russia and Abkhazia continue talks in Moscow on naval traffic through the ports on the Black Sea.
Abkhazia protested against the Russian blockade of foreign merchant ships delivering goods to Abkhazia