"It is planned that Sergei Ivanov will fly into Batumi (the Adjaran capital) today," Sulkhanishvili told reporters in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.

Saakashvili's spokesman did not say who Ivanov would be meeting.

The announcement came amid mass demonstrations in Adjara against the separatist leadership of Aslan Abashidze, whose family has ruled the breakaway region for decades.

Abashidze -- who has had support from Moscow, which has a military base in the region that Georgia wants shut down -- is under pressure from the new government in Tbilisi to resign.

There are still fears that the stand-off between Abashidze and the Tbilisi could drag the former Soviet republic into a disastrous civil war.

Abashidze and Saakashvili have been holding talks through their intermediaries about the terms under which Abashidze might resign, including his potential safe passage into Russia, according to media reports.

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