Bagapsh Warns Diplomats not to Talk with ‘Puppet Government’

During a meeting in Sokhumi with Peter Semneby, the EU envoy in the South Caucasus, Abkhaz leader Sergey Bagapsh stressed that the Abkhaz side will not hold talks with foreign diplomats who include Kodori Gorge as part of their trip to Abkhazia, Apsnipress news agency reported.

President Saakashvili announced on September 26 that all foreign diplomats traveling to the Abkhaz capital for talks will also have to visit the village of Chkhalta in the upper Kodori Gorge to hold talks with the Tbilisi-backed Abkhaz government-in-exile.

“We do not need mediators who participate in the political shows staged by the Georgian leadership. The current situation confirms that Tbilisi is deliberately trying to thwart the peace process – its basic principles and the agreements achieved through international mediation,” Apsnipress news agency quoted Bagapsh as saying.

Sergey Bagapsh said during the talks that not a single diplomatic mission, regardless of which country or international organization it represents, will be permitted to enter Abkhazia if it also holds talks with the Kodori-based Abkhaz government-in-exile, Apsnipress reported.

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)