Tbilisi and Moscow have given some thought to starting a dialogue

The opposition "Alliance for Georgia" has called on people to stop making aggressive verbal attacks against Russia. For the first time since August, deputies in the State Duma have apparently spoken out in favour of resuming a dialogue with Georgia. But Tbilisi officials have viewed the prospects for a constructive dialogue with their northern neighbour sceptically. So can there be an agreement between Moscow and Tbilisi or not?

"The Alliance for Georgia" is far from alone in its desire to establish a dialogue between Georgia and Russia. The Labour party, the leader of the "Democratic Movement - United Georgia" party Nino Burjanadze, and the head of the "Movement for a Just Georgia" Zurab Nogaideli have already come out with similar initiatives. However, the Tbilisi government has reacted especially badly to the Alliance's appeal. At a traditional briefing, Georgia's Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze tried to be sarcastic, saying that he was prepared "to pay any money in order to see how the opposition would restore relations with Russia," he is quoted as saying by Day.az.

Meanwhile, the head of the Russian State Duma Committee on international affairs, Konstantin Kosachev, thinks that they need to return to a dialogue with Georgia. As he told Rossiiskaya Gazeta, the path towards normalizing relations will be found far quicker "if a new generation of Georgian politicians comes through to represent Georgia in a dialogue with Russia, who are capable of "rewinding" the situation quite far back to that intersection, from where we hit a deadlock". But, according to the head of the Duma International Affairs Committee, the same thing will also have to be done by Russia.

Your GeorgiaTimes correspondent has tried to find out how Georgian opposition politicians are intending to restore relations with Russia, and what Russian experts think about this.

One of the leaders of the Republican party, Levan Berdzenishvili, said: "I think that all the sides in the conflict - Russia, Georgia and Abkhazia - need to acknowledge their blame. In actual fact, everyone is to blame. Of course, the key issue in the negotiating process with Russia will be the recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia's independence. A new generation of politicians is ready to guarantee that, despite the fact that Georgia will never recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and will call on the international community to help to restore our country's territorial integrity, we will not use force to resolve the conflicts. Actually, Russia has taken away 20-percent of Georgia's territory.

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