Tbilisi Downplays Abkhaz Rejection of German Plan

Senior Georgian officials have downplayed Sokhumi’s rejection of the German plan and said Moscow’s response would be “decisive.”

“What kind of position the Russian authorities take will be decisive,” Davit Bakradze, the Georgian parliamentary chairman, told journalists after meeting with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Batumi.

The German foreign minister arrived in Batumi and met with President Saakashvili and other senior officials after holding talks with the Abkhaz leadership in Gali earlier on July 18. He plans to meet with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, in Moscow later on July 18.

“The Abkhaz rejection or acceptance of a plan is just a political game and we all know it very well that that in fact Russia stands behind the Abkhazians,” Bakradze said. “Therefore, his [Steinmeier’s] talks in Moscow will be decisive. I hope that the authorities of the Russian Federation will be a bit more constructive.”

Abkhaz leader Sergey Bagapsh said after meeting with the German foreign minister that the Berlin-proposed three-stage plan was unacceptable for Sokhumi. He then reiterated the Abkhaz side’s preconditions for a resumption of talks, saying that Tbilisi should first withdraw troops from upper Kodori Gorge and sign a treaty on the non-use of force. The Russian Foreign Ministry voiced similar demands on a number of occasions recently.

“Both sides’ positions are far from each other, and we need to create the conditions for a dialogue," Steinmeier said after his talks with the Abkhaz leadership. “What we have is a draft. That is how we see it. What we need to do now is to turn the draft into a document based on which we can work in the future.”