Alasania: Georgian-Abkhaz Talks ‘Fruitful’

The Georgian President’s aide for Abkhaz issues Irakli Alasania said on May 15 that ongoing Georgian-Abkhaz talks in frames of the Coordinating Council are “fruitful.”

“The Abkhaz side has submitted its document over conflict resolution and we have promised that we [the Georgian side] will discuss it. We will submit our peace plan to the Abkhaz side our at a meeting of representatives of [UN Secretary General’s] Group of Friends, who are expected to arrive in Tbilisi on May 22. Then we will launch consultations in an attempt to find common ground based on these two documents,” Irakli Alasania told reporters on May 15.

Foreign Minister of breakaway Abkhazia Sergey Shamba arrived in Tbilisi on May 15 to participate in a meeting of the reinstated Georgian-Abkhaz Coordinating Council. The meeting, which was held under the auspices of the UN, was attended by ambassadors from UN Secretary General’s Group of Friends, involving Germany, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues Giorgi Khaindrava leads the Georgian side during the talks.

Irakli Alasania, who also participated in the talks, said that the sides are now discussing an agenda and plans for the Georgian-Abkhaz Coordinating Council.

The Georgian and Abkhaz sides agreed to resume the Council, which last gathered in January, 2001, after talks between Georgian President’s aide for Abkhaz issues Irakli Alasania and Abkhaz Foreign Minister Sergey Shamba in Sokhumi in March, 2006.

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