Medvedev Meets Bagapsh

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met Abkhaz leader Sergey Bagapsh in Moscow on June 26.

“The settlement of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict was discussed during the talks,” the Kremlin said in a press release. “It was stressed that any progress in this direction can be reached only through implementing the previously signed agreements, and first and foremost, the Moscow agreement on the non-use of force and separation of forces dated May 14, 1994, as well as the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council.”

The Kremlin said that “President of Abkhazia” Bagapsh had stressed what he called the vital role of the Russian peacekeepers in the region.

“He also thanked the Russian Federation for the support rendered to Abkhazia’s population in resolving socio-economic and humanitarian problems,” the Kremlin said.

Russia cited its desire to provide humanitarian assistance to Abkhazia as the reason behind the April 16 decree of then Russian President Vladimir Putin, who in now the prime minister, on establishing official ties with the breakaway region. Tbilisi wants Russia to revoke the decree.

Moscow has also said that ongoing rehabilitation of the Abkhaz railway network by Russian Railway Forces was part of the humanitarian assistance. The move has also angered Tbilisi, which claims that Russia is preparing the ground for military intervention by restoring the rail network in Abkhazia.

The meeting between Medvedev and Bagapsh came just hours before the Russian president’s departure to the Siberian town of Khanty-Mansiysk, which will host an EU-Russia summit on June 26-27.

Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, said Georgia would be discussed during the summit.

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)