Georgia Assails Russian Role in Breakaway Abkhazia
12.07.2006
MosNews
A top Georgian lawmaker accused Russia on Tuesday of blocking international efforts to resolve a long-simmering dispute between Georgia and its breakaway Abkhazia province, the Reuters news agency reports.
The criticism by Georgia’s parliamentary speaker, Nino Burjanadze, during a closed-door meeting of the UN Security Council drew an angry response from Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin.
“I am very disappointed. Burjanadze made a big mistake by this kind of a diatribe against Russia,” Churkin told reporters after the meeting, calling her remarks “completely unacceptable” and counterproductive.
Abkhazia won effective independence from Georgia in a 1992-93 war, and Moscow props it up by paying pensions, issuing Russian passports and allowing cross-border traffic while acting as the lead “facilitator” in the peace process.
Georgia, home to 200,000 ethnic Georgian refugees who fled the war, has vowed to regain control over Abkhazia.
A UN peacekeeping mission of 130 military observers, troops and international police officers deployed in 1993, patrols the separation line between Abkhazia and the rest of the country, alongside a separate Russian mission.
Burjanadze said Georgia wanted international help in resolving the conflict and helping Georgian refugees return to their former homes in Abkhazia, but was thwarted by Moscow.
“Unfortunately, I stress that Russia is playing quite a negative role, trying to keep the status quo in the conflict zone,” she told reporters, warning this would never bring stability.
The parliament also wanted the Russian troops withdrawn and replaced with “really neutral international peacekeepers.”
But Churkin said both sides would have to agree before the Russian peacekeepers could be pulled out, and he had no indication the Abkhaz side wanted this.
“The important thing to remember is that Russia is not a party in the conflict,” Churkin said. “Nobody is going to be more happy than Russia if the Georgians and the Abkhazians come to an agreement.”
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