Moscow, Sokhumi Hail UN Resolution on Abkhazia
Russian and Abkhaz officials welcomed the UN resolution on Abkhazia, adopted by the Security Council on October 13, which calls on Georgia to refrain from ?provocative actions, especially in upper Kodori? Gorge and notes the important ?stabilizing role? of Russian peacekeeping troops in the Abkhaz conflict zone.
?The resolution reflected all the major demands of the Russian side, which are based on facts,? RIA Novosti news agency quoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as saying on October 13.
Abkhaz leader Sergey Bagapsh said that the UN resolution is absolutely acceptable for the Abkhaz side.
?At last, the UN Security Council adopted a fair resolution on Abkhazia and we are satisfied that the Security Council gave a real assessment to the situation in upper Kodori Gorge and criticized Georgia?s destabilizing role,? Apsnipress news agency quoted Bagapsh as saying.
In a statement issued on October 13, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Tbilisi?s criticism towards Russian peacekeepers is in ?dissonance? with the position reflected in the resolution.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stressed the importance of the part of the resolution that calls on the sides to agree on the non-resumption of hostilities in the conflict zone.
?Now, when the UN Security Council has spoken out, I think that they [the Georgian authorities] will have to follow these requirements,? Lavrov added.
In his address to the UN General Assembly Session on September 22, President Saakashvili made it clear that Tbilisi will sign an agreement on the non-resumption of hostilities only after the Russian peacekeeping forces are replaced in the conflict zone by a multinational police force.
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