U.S. Envoy Comments on UN Resolution on Abkhazia

U.S. Ambassador to the UN John Bolton said in a statement on October 13 that the United States considers the Georgian side?s actions undertaken in upper Kodori Gorge in late July to crack down on militia groups as Georgia?s sovereign right.

?We wish to make clear that the U.S. views the Georgian law enforcement action in the Kodori Valley as the exercise of the Georgian Government’s sovereign right and obligation to administer to the needs of its citizens in all regions of Georgia, including Abkhazia’s Upper Kodori Valley, provided that the Georgian Government carries out such actions in accordance with the cease-fire agreement and related agreements,? John Bolton said in a statement after the UN Security Council adopted a resolution on Abkhazia.

He said that the Group of Friends of the UN Secretary General for Georgia (Germany, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) agreed on a framework for a balanced text of resolution during a meeting in Berlin on September 28.

But later Russia proposed its draft resolution which, according to Ambassador Bolton, was tabled outside the Group of Friends process.

?We regret the decision of the Russian Federation to table a resolution, outside of the Friends’ process, that was not consistent with the longstanding close cooperation among the Friends? Nevertheless, because achieving a constructive resolution that would be supportive to both sides in resolving the conflict was so important, we negotiated as long as possible toward that goal within the Friends and sought throughout these negotiations to achieve a text that all could fully support,? Ambassador Bolton said.

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