U.S. Official to Visit Tbilisi, Sokhumi

Mathew Bryza, the U.S. deputy assistance secretary of state, will hold talks with the Georgian and breakaway Abkhaz authorities in Tbilisi and Sokhumi, respectively, this week, the U.S embassy in Tbilisi has confirmed.

Bryza will visit Sokhumi on July 25 and hold meetings with Abkhaz leader Sergey Bagapsh; Foreign Minster Sergey Shamba; Secretary of the Abkhaz National Security Council Stanislav Lakoba, as well as with representatives of local NGOs, Apsnipress news agency reported.

In an interview with the RFE/RL Georgian service this week, Bryza said the resumption of direct talks between Sokhumi and Tbilisi was essential.

“We are still going to do everything we possibly can to get the Abkhaz and the Georgians to be able to talk face to face with no restrictions and no preconditions,” he said.

Sokhumi says it will resume talks with Tbilisi if it agrees to pull out troops from upper Kodori Gorge and sign a treaty on the non-use of force.

This will be Bryza’s second visit to Sokhumi in less than three months. The visit comes after German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s shuttle diplomacy between Tbilisi, Sokhumi and Moscow last week, when he presented to the parties a three-stage plan.

Meanwhile, German Ambassador to Georgia Patricia Flor is also expected to visit Sokhumi and hold talks with the Abkhaz leadership on July 25, according to the Apsnipress news agency.