By Karine Kalantarian
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili arrived in Armenia Thursday on what President Robert Kocharian’s office described as a “private” visit initiated by the Armenian side. Kocharian’s press secretary, Victor Soghomonian, told RFE/RL that the two leaders were meeting in the Armenian ski resort of Tsaghkadzor in the afternoon and will stay there until Friday. He declined to disclose the agenda or any other details of the talks.
Soghomonian was quoted by a Georgian news agency as saying Saakashvili and Kocharian will “rest together and ski” in Tsaghkadzor. They had met in similar circumstances in the Georgian ski resort of Gudauri about two years ago.
Saakashvili’s previous trip to Armenia, which took place in August 2005, also had an informal character. He spent two days with Kocharian at the latter’s summer retreat on the shore of Lake Sevan.
(Photolur photo: Kocharian and Saakashvili speak to journalists during their August 2005 meeting.)