President Hails CIS Summit Results

President Shevardnadze welcomed today that the summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in Yalta, Ukraine, on September 19-20, put on the agenda Abkhaz issue, despite certain difficulties.

“When the Russian Foreign Ministry officials withdrew the Abkhaz issue from the agenda, Georgia was about to leave the Summit; however, at my urgent request, the issue was discussed. The situation around Abkhazia is difficult, because of neglecting the interests of the Georgian side,” the Georgian President said in his Monday radio broadcast on September 22.

Shevardnadze said, the sides agreed to implement all the previous agreements on Abkhazia, under which the states should not establish relations with the breakaway Abkhazia without notifying the Georgian side in advance.

All the leaders of the CIS member states, including the Russian President, agreed with this approach,” Shevardnadze added.

Georgian government frequently protests against, as it says, “the unsanctioned ties between the breakaway Abkhazia and Russian Federation.”