The presence of the Tbilisi-backed Abkhaz government-in-exile in upper Kodori Gorge, the detention of Abkhaz officials by the Georgian side, anti-Russian peacekeeper rhetoric, and “an anti-Abkhazia campaign accompanied by too much emotion? are the major factors currently hindering the peace process, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said in an interview with the Russian daily Izvestia published on March 15.
?I think that in the process of drafting a new text of the UN Security Council resolution [on the situation in Abkhazia, which is expected before April 15], the authors of the resolution should call for the removal of these negative factors hindering the peace process,? Karasin said.
He said that Russia was concerned about the March 11 incident in Tbilisi-controlled upper Kodori Gorge, but denied Tbilisi?s allegations that Moscow was behind the reported shelling of villages in the gorge.
?The recent events in upper Kodori Gorge were a very firm signal for those who try to create turmoil in the current military-political situation in the conflict zones and who try to unilaterally impose conditions for [conflict] resolutions,? the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister said.
?Only the resumption of the halted negotiation process can defuse tensions. Formats for [talks] already exist and there is neither reason nor time to create new ones. There is a special need for signing agreements on the non-use of force,? Karasin added.
Georgia is pushing for changing the current Russian-led peacekeeping and negotiating formats in both Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Tbilisi says that it is also against signing agreements with the Abkhaz and South Ossetian sides on the non-use of force against the background of the existing peacekeeping formats.
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