Mr. Putin expressed his willingness to meet the new President of Georgia.

On February 10 at the Press Center in Sochi, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with representatives of the Social Council involved in organizing the 22nd Winter Olympics.

During the conversation, Mr. Putin said he had no objections to meeting Georgia's new leader Giorgi Margvelashvili and added that he was pleased with the presence of the Georgian team at this Olympics.

Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi 2014 (Source: AFP/Getty)

“This is a case where the Olympics contribute to building relations, even when it seems impossible or very difficult,” Putin was quoted by the “Russia 24” TV channel as saying.

For his part, President Margvelashvili said he would carefully study President Putin’s statement. The politician added that he would pay close attention to similar messages from the Russian leader in the context of relations between the two countries “being one of the most difficult and problematic for the Georgian government”.

Mr Margvelashvili said he was keen to see “the tragedy of the past years disappear as soon as possible”.

Earlier, Russia and Georgia resumed flights between Sochi and Tbilisi.

The Russian president pledged that these flights would continue even after the Olympics. Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili officially took office on November 17, 2013.

Relations between Russia and Georgia have been strained since a brief war in 2008, but have gradually improved since the former Soviet republic took on new leadership late last year./.

According to VNA