The leadership of Abkhazia is beefing up its military potential, while the Georgian armed forces are continuing their military exercise.
Anatoly Zaitsev, the deputy defense minister of Abkhazia, said that the upcoming military exercise would be far larger scale than those held April 18-21...
ABKHAZIA: SABER RATTLING GROWS LOUDER
The leadership of Abkhazia is beefing up its military potential, while the Georgian armed forces are continuing their military exercise.
Anatoly Zaitsev, the deputy defense minister of Abkhazia, said that the upcoming military exercise would be far larger scale than those held April 18-21...
The move from peaceful discussions to saber rattling is undermining the fragile progress reportedly achieved at the Georgian Abkhaz talks in Geneva on April 7-8 under the auspices of the UN Secretary General´s Group of Friends of Georgia (Russia, United States, France, Great Britain, and Germany).
The final document produced at those talks again emphasized the need to avoid military force, activate confidence building measures, and work toward refugee return and economic cooperation between Tiflis and Sukhum.
Meanwhile, the United States has turned its attention toward Abkhazia, as U.S. President George W. Bush plans to visit Georgia on May 10.
On April 11, a U.S. delegation that included the State Department´s Senior Advisor for Caspian Basin Energy Diplomacy, Ambassador Steven Mann, and U.S. Ambassador to Georgia Richard Miles visited Sukhum.
Yet after talks with the U.S. delegation, Bagapsh continued to insist that Abkhazia would not give up its independence.
Bagapsh denied that the U.S. diplomats had invited him to Tiflis to hold talks with Saakashvili during Bush´s visit (Regnum, Rosbalt, April 11-12).
He also stressed that Russia remains a major mediator in the conflict.
After the talks Bagapsh promptly visited Moscow April 12-13, and on April 18-21 the Abkhaz army, conducted large scale military exercises as if responding to the visit by the U.S. diplomats.
Simultaneously Abkhazia is actively courting Russian and Turkish investment in hopes of improving the economic situation in the region.
More than 50 Russian construction companies participated in an April 10-11 exhibition in Sukhum, and 13 more Turkish firms have joined Abkhazia´s Chamber of Industry and Commerce.
The latest round of Georgian policy swings towards Abkhazia suggest that while Tiflis is seeking to regain Abkhazia by political means, the government has not completely ruled out a military solution.
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