Russian, Abkhaz Officials Discuss Kosovo Implications

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin and breakaway Abkhazia’s foreign minister, Sergey Shamba, discussed at a meeting in Moscow on February 14 new realities emerging in light of the expected declaration of Kosovo’s independence, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

“It was said that it will be an obvious caase of a double-standard approach to esolving regional conflicts, if Kosovo’s independence is recognized by a number of states through by-passing decisions of the UN Security Council. As it has already been stated that is unacceptable for the Russian Federation,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a press release on February 14.

With this in mind, the Russian deputy foreign minister and the Abkhaz foreign minister discussed “directions of further interactions between Moscow and Sokhumi,” it said.

An upcoming meeting of the UN Secretary General’s Group of Friends on Georgia – France, Germany, Great Britain, Russia and the U.S. – in Geneva on February 18-19 was also discussed at the meeting. Temur Iakobashvili, the Georgian state minister for reintegration, and Shamba are also expected to attend the meeting.

“[Shamba and Karasin] noted the absence of a realistic Georgian strategy for peaceful resolution [of the conflict] and Tbilisi’s unwillingness to accept advice and recommendations offered by the international community to help bring negotiations out of deadlock,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.