TBILISI/MOSCOW, March 2 (RIA Novosti) - The Swiss embassy in Georgia will start issuing Russian entry visas to Georgian nationals from March 5, the Georgian Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
Georgia severed diplomatic ties with Russia in late August 2008 after Moscow recognized its former republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states.
Recognition followed a five-day war with Georgia that began when the South Caucasus state attacked South Ossetia in a bid to bring it back under central control.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Swiss counterpart, Micheline Calmy-Rey, exchanged the diplomatic papers authorizing Switzerland to act on Russia's behalf in Georgia at a ceremony in Moscow on December 13.
Switzerland, as a neutral state, has for years represented the interests of a number of countries. It currently represents the interests of Cuba and Iran in the United States, U.S. interests in Cuba, and Iran in Egypt.
Russia's Foreign Ministry confirmed on Monday that the Swiss embassy in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi would start issuing Russian entry visas to Georgian nationals from March 5.
"On March 4, Russian and Swiss diplomats in Moscow, Georgian and Swiss diplomats in Tbilisi will exchange diplomatic notes. The next day, the offices [the office of Russian interests at the Swiss embassy in Tbilisi and the office of Georgian interests at the Swiss embassy in Moscow] will open simultaneously, and we will resume our diplomatic and consulate functions," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
