Georgian FM: Russian Peacekeepers Source of Tension in Abkhazia
Russian “behavior and plans” are the sole cause of tension in Abkhazia, Eka Tkeshelashvili, the Georgian foreign minister, said on June 17.
“Neither the Georgian side nor the Abkhaz side represents the source of increased tension,” she said. “The only country escalating the situation by its actions and plans is Russia.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on June 17 warning Tbilisi not to take any “reckless” decision and not to demand the wiithdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from Abkhazia. It said such a move might lead to greater tension in the entire Caucasus region.
The Georgian foreign minister, however, said that Russian peacekeeping troops in Abkhazia, “which do not bring anything positive to the existing situation,” represent “one of the major and important sources” of tension.
“[The Russian peacekeepers’] absence can not bring about something negative,” she continued. “On the contrary, its replacement by a real security system will be the very precondition for the launch of a real peacekeeping process.”
Tkeshelashvili is currently in Brussels, where she, according to the Georgian Foreign Ministry, will meet NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer on June 18.
