The closing of the Verkhny Lars checkpoint dealt a blow to Armenia rather than Georgia, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said at a press conference in Tbilisi July 11. The closing of the Verkhny Lars checkpoint did not deal blow to the Georgian economy because Georgian cargo was not transported this way. But for ordinary people, who move from one state to another, it’s really bad. And it’s especially bad for Armenia, since the major part of cargo destined for this country was transported through the Verkhny Lars,” Saakashvili said remarking that Georgian cargo was not let pass this way.
July 8 Russian border guards blocked the northern sector of the Georgian-Russian border at the checkpoint of Kazbegi-Verkhni Lars over some construction works.
July 10 the Georgian authorities ordered to establish a temporary checkpoint to allow the citizens enter Georgia from Russia. Many of these people trying to enter Georgia headed from Verkhny Lars towards Nizhny Zaramag checkpoint (at the Russian border) and then via the Roksky tunnel into the Tskhinvali region where there are no formal checkpoints for crossing the Russian-Georgian border, reported Georgia online.
