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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| Russia-Georgia crossing to reopen | Russia-Georgia crossing to reopen |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Russia and Georgia have agreed to reopen a border crossing that has been closed since July 2006, Georgia's foreign ministry says. | Russia and Georgia have agreed to reopen a border crossing that has been closed since July 2006, Georgia's foreign ministry says. |
| The Kazbegi-Upper Lars crossing is likely to reopen next March, deputy foreign minister Nino Kalandadze said. | |
| It is the only crossing that does not go through the Russian-backed breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. | It is the only crossing that does not go through the Russian-backed breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. |
| Georgian forces were driven out of the two regions in a bitter war with Russia in August 2008. | Georgian forces were driven out of the two regions in a bitter war with Russia in August 2008. |
| The Russian government has confirmed the border agreement, saying that the checkpoint could "in theory" reopen from 1 March 2010. | |
| But air links could only be re-established if the safety of Russian air crews could be guaranteed, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said. | |
| Diplomatic relations had not been restored since the war, and that was the problem, he added. |