Situation in Kodori Concerns Russia

(Tbilisi, March 13, Civil Georgia) – Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry Spokesman Aleksandr Iakovenko stated on March 12 that situation in Kodori gorge, breakaway Abkhazia, is serious and threatens peace in region.

Russian official called the Georgia to pull out its military units from upper Kodori, the only part of Abkhazia controlled by the Georgian government.

Georgian and Abkhazian sides signed a protocol, according to which Georgian troops should be withdrawn from the gorge.

Georgian Special Affairs Minister Malkhaz Kakabadze states that Abkhazians cannot guarantee security for the Georgian population of Kodori in case the Georgian Defense Ministry units leave the gorge.

Georgian Parliament is to discuss situation in Abkhazia and issue of possible withdrawal of forces from Kodori at the session on March 14.

Georgian Defense Ministry dispatched approximately 350 soldiers to Kodori last October when the armed clashes between Abkhaz and joint Georgian-Chechen fighters occurred in breakaway Abkhazia. 

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