Report: Sokhumi Wants UN to Stay in Face of Russian Troops Presence

Senior Abkhaz officials have privately told Western diplomats that they would like the UN observers “to stay on in some capacity, so they are not left solely with Russian troops,” a Brussels-based think-tank International Crisis Group said in a report released on November 26.

After the August war the future role of UN observer mission in the region remains unclear. In early October, the UN Security Council approved a four-month technical extension of the mission’s mandate.

Moscow has insisted that a separate UN mission was needed for Abkhazia, which Russia has recognized as independent state. The recent Security Council resolution does not mention the UN mission with its official name under which it operated in the region for over a decade – UN Observer Mission in Georgia. Moscow and Sokhumi want “Georgia” to be removed from the mission’s name.

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