Russian MFA: NATO MPs not Refused to Visit Gudauda

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mikhail Kaminin denied reports that the Russian side refused to let a delegation of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly led President Pierre Lellouche, which traveled to breakaway Abkhazia on May 6, to visit the Gudauta military base in the unrecognized republic.

In an information note issued on May 12 Mikhail Kaminin said that the NATO delegation, which held talks with the command of the the Russian peacekeeping forces stationed in the conflict zone under the aegis of the CIS, has not expressed willingness to visit the Gudauta base.

“They failed, or simply did not want to explain the reasons behind their interest in visiting the Gudauta base,” Kaminin said, adding that President Lellouche’s statement that he was not admitted to the Gudauta base “is not true.”

“Previously, the representatives of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly expressed willingness to visit the Gudauta base. In principle, we were not against this visit provided that it had clearly defined goals, such as confirmation of a fact of base closure,” the Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman said.

The Russian side claims that it closed down its military base in Gudauta in 2001 as envisaged by the OSCE Istanbul treaty, but Georgia casts doubts over this claim and wants to launch regular international monitoring of the base.