Patton Boggs has inked a $540K six-month contract to represent the government of Georgia, which is seeking closer ties to Russia.

The two nations fought a brief war in 2008, a conflict that resulted in Georgia losing about 20 percent of its property as two dissident territories exited.

Georgia’s new prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, who took office in October, has made a “reset” of ties with Moscow a top priority. Under previous leadership, Georgia was a close U.S. ally.

PB’s Tommy Boggs heads the Georgia business, which is focused on backing its NATO aspirations, communicating with U.S. officials and doing outreach to members of the media and opinion makers, according to its agreement.

The D.C. firm is obligated to provide the Georgians a “progress report” every two weeks covering completed activities and a monthly report describing planned actions.