Tbilisi/Moscow  - Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said Tuesday he would meet with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev next week to discuss the tense situation over Russia's support for Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia.

"We want to relax the situation that has escalated lately, and, I hope, that with Russia's new president we will find a constructive dialogue," Saakashvili was quoted by news agency Interfax as saying Tuesday.

Relations between Tbilisi and Moscow have long been strained over Moscow's support for the separatist Georgian territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, but they reached a crisis point Saakashvili said was close to war on April 20 after Georgia accused Russia of shooting down one of its spy planes over Abkhazia.

A United Nations report Monday cited witnesses, radar shots and video footage from the drone as proof of Georgia's claims, but Russia says Abkhaz rebels were responsible for the shooting, a claim corroborated by the Abkhaz leadership.

Medvedev made overtures to Saakashvili on Monday, congratulating him on Georgia's Independence Day.

"We hope for a constructive cooperation between our states in the sake of developing neighbourly relations and strengthening stability and security in the Caucasus region," Medvedev said.

The two leaders plan to meet on the sideline of an Economic Forum in St Petersburg on June 6-7. (dpa)