Russian Senators Visit Abkhazia

A delegation from the Russian Federal Council?s (Russian Parliament?s upper chamber) Committee on Defense and Security, led by Chairman Victor Ozerov, is expected to arrive in breakaway Abkhazia on October 13 to get acquainted with the current situation regarding the the Russian peacekeeping troops stationed there, RIA Novosti news agency reported.
 
The Russian senators? trip follows the adoption of a resolution on Russian peacekeepers by the Georgian Parliament, which instructs the Georgian government to take measures to prepare for the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from the South Ossetian and Abkhazian conflict zone if the performance of the peacekeeping forces does not improve before February, 2006 and July, 2006 in South Ossetia and Abkhazia respectively.
 
However, Chairman of the Russian Federal Council?s Committee on Defense and Security Victor Ozerov said that this will be a routine trip to Abkhazia, which has nothing to do with the Georgian Parliament?s resolution.
 
?The visit of our senators was planned as far back as spring … we regularly study those problems which our Russian peacekeepers face abroad,? Ozerov said on October 13. 
 
The Russian peacekeeping troops stationed in Abkhazia, under the aegis of, monitor the ceasefire in the conflict zone.
 
The Russian senator also noted that Russian peacekeepers are stationed in Georgia in accordance with international norms under the aegis of the Commonwealth of Independent States (SIC) and they will leave the country only if a relevant decision is made by the CIS member states. 
 
Reportedly, the Russian senators will hold talks with Abkhaz leader Sergey Bagapsh, Prime Minister Alexander Ankvab and chief of Russian peacekeepers during the visit to Abkhazia.

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