"Shortly before the UN meeting in Geneva slated for April 7-8, in the period of active Georgian-Russian negotiations, the visit of a delegation of Russian executives does not help to settle relations between Georgia and Russia," reads a press release of the Georgian foreign ministry.
Sukhumi is visited now by a delegation of the Moscow government. On Monday, the Russian delegation met with Sergei Bagapsh, president of the unrecognized republic of Abkhazia, to discuss concrete projects of cooperation in the economic sphere. These include the implementation of programs for developing the health resort infrastructure and the processing industries, and also for restoring transport communications.
Sergei Bagapsh expressed gratitude to the Moscow government for cooperation and underlined the priority of projects yielding the economic effect within a brief span of time. At the same time, the republic's leader pointed out that new projects should strictly comply with the Abkhaz legislation. Besides, they should not disturb the present ecological balance of the region.
The visit of the Moscow government's delegation follows the agreements reached by Sergei Bagapsh and Moscow's Mayor Yuri Luzhkov. Members of the Abkhaz government headed by prime minister Alexander Ankvab also took part in the meeting with the Russian delegation.
The Georgian-Abkhaz conflict arose in the early 1990s, when Georgia deprived Abkhazia of its autonomous status and applied tough punitive measures in response to its proclamation of independence. Since June 1994, the situation in the zone of conflict has been controlled by a peacekeeping force with the mandate of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The peacekeeping contingent is wholly made up of Russian servicemen.
