"We expect that as a result of this meeting there will be greater clarity in our relations to correct this unhealthy situation," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at the start of a meeting with Georgian counterpart Gela Bezhuashvili.
"There is a constructive mood... We hope that our openness can give reason to think that we can change the situation in our relations," Bezhuashvili said.
"We'll see," Lavrov responded.
Accusations have continued to fly in recent days, however, giving little indication of an imminent breakthrough in the crisis, which exploded when Georgia briefly arrested four Russian officers for spying.
Russia has cut off transport ties, deported hundreds of Georgian citizens, and cracked down on Georgian businesses in the worst dispute between the two since a 2003 revolution brought a pro-Western leadership to power in Georgia.
Georgia's US-educated President Mikheil Saakashvili has sought to wrench his country out of Moscow's orbit and move toward NATO and European Union membership.
Bezhuashvili earlier Wednesday took part together with Lavrov and other foreign ministers from the region in the Black Sea Economic Co-operation Organisation summit.
"We always welcome any dialogue... but a single contact will not solve the problem," Igor Ivanov, the head of Russia's security council, said on Tuesday ahead of the talks.
Ivanov said the success of the talks would depend on what Georgia brought to the table, saying it was up to Tbilisi to solve a crisis it had caused.
On Tuesday Merab Antadze, Georgia's minister for conflict settlement, who is to take part in the talks, said Georgia would also put forward a plan to settle conflicts with its two breakaway regions, ITAR-TASS reported.
Georgia has long been irked by what it sees as Russian support for Abkhazia and South Ossetia, while Moscow accuses Saakashvili of planning military action there.
South Ossetia on Tuesday accused Tbilisi of plotting to assassinate the region's leadership and said it had killed four Georgia-linked "saboteurs" earlier in the day.
Bezhuashvili dismissed the claim as "disinformation" and an attempt "to exacerbate the situation in the region."
Alexei Malashenko, a political analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center said talks between Bezhuashvili and Lavrov could also touch on sensitive economic issues.
Malashenko said Russia had satisfied its "bloodthirstiness" since the arrest of the officers, and that bilateral economic questions could "now be resolved without politics."

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2006