Bagapsh Sets Ultimatum for Resuming Talks

Abkhaz side will resume talks with Tbilisi only after the Georgian side will pull out its troops and ?puppet government? of Abkhazia from the upper Kodori Gorge, Sergey Bagapsh told visiting EU special representative to the South Caucasus Peter Semneby in Sokhumi on October 21, Apsnipress news agency reported.

?Withdrawal of all armed personnel and puppet governmental structures from the upper Kodori gorge will give a chance for resuming a dialogue,? Bagapsh said.

UN observers said after monitoring of the gorge in mid-October that there are about 550 Interior Ministry troops in the gorge. The 1994 ceasefire agreement bans Georgia to deploy only Defense Ministry troops in the gorge. But the observers also said that there was large number of armament in the gorge.

?This country [Georgia] is not ready to settle the problem peacefully. And the Russian President is absolutely right, when he says that Georgia is actively preparing for the war with Abkhazia and South Ossetia. We fail to see a reliable participant of the negotiating process in this country [Georgia]… Therefore, our position will remain unchanged ? we will further seek for recognition,? Apsnipress quoted Bagapsh as saying.