Russian minister denies sanctions on Georgia

MOSCOW, Dec 16 (Reuters) Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov denied that Russia has imposed sanctions on its pro-Western neighbour Georgia, saying breaks in air links and wine trade between the former Soviet states were commercially justified.

Moscow last month cut postal, rail and air links with Georgia, stopped issuing visas to Georgians and halted wine trade after Tbilisi briefly arrested Russian army officers and accused them of spying.

Western governments criticised Moscow's measures, suggesting they were retaliation for Georgia's attempts to seek NATO and EU membership but Ivanov told foreign correspondents late yesterday that this was not the case.

''There are no sanctions against Georgia,'' he said. ''Georgian airlines owe us money and they don't want to pay. If they pay, flights will resume.'' Asked about Russia's ban on the sale of Georgian wine, a key export for the impoverished Caucasus nation, Ivanov said Georgia had been illegally exporting wine from other states rebranded as its own.

''They have been exporting to Russia a quantity of wine which is three times what they produce,'' he said.

Ivanov also accused Georgia of seeking a war with separatists in the breakaway areas of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as part of what he termed Tbilisi's policy of attacking ethnic minorities.

The two small pro-Russian regions broke away from the Georgian central government during wars in the 1990s and run themselves as independent territories, albeit without international recognition.

''They want to start a war against Abkhazia and South Ossetia,'' Ivanov said. ''They want to suppress minorities. This is big Georgia attacking tiny ethnic minorities.'' REUTERS MS KN1917