Thanks to the strong ties it has with both countries, Italy is in a position to help stabilise relations between Russia and Georgia, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said on Thursday.
Speaking to the press here after his meeting with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, Frattini recalled how Italy would like to bring Georgia closer to the European Union through an association accord and by easing visa restrictions.
He added that relations between Italy and Georgia were ''really good'' and this was evidenced by the fact that Italy is Georgia's second trading partner in Europe.
President Saakashvili confirmed his country's interest is drawing closer to the EU and observed that Georgia represented ''an important gateway to Central Asia''.
Italy last summer offered to host a conference to help resolve the crisis sparked by Russia's invasion of Georgia in support of the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Italy later took part in a European Union mission to place 200 observers in the temporary buffer zones between Georgia and the breakaway regions to oversee the withdrawal of Russian troops.
