SUKHUMI, May 6 (RIA Novosti) - The president of the self-proclaimed republic of Abkhazia said Saturday that there was no chance that the breakaway region would return to Georgia's control.
Meeting with a NATO Parliamentary Assembly delegation in the unrecognized republic's capital, Sukhumi, for talks on the future of Georgia-Abkhazia relations, Sergei Bagapsh said: "The bitter history of relations between Georgia and Abkhazia leaves no chance for the two countries' reunification in any legal framework."
Abkhazia, in the northwest of Georgia, declared independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, which led to a bloody conflict in the Caucasus.
Bagapsh said Abkhazia supported the peace process in the region, but warned against linking progress to Abkhazia's political status.
"There is no alternative to independence for the people of Abkhazia," he said.
Bagapsh also dismissed speculation that the unrecognized republic might be "peacefully" annexed by a third country, saying Abkhazia did not want to limit its political and economic cooperation with the outside world.
The other unrecognized republic on Georgian soil, South Ossetia, announced earlier this year that it would ask Russia's Constitutional Court to allow it to join the Russian Federation and would present historical documents to back its claim.
Georgia, which is seeking to bring the regions back under its control, has accused Russia of siding with separatists and stalling the peace process.
Late last year, the country demanded that Russian troops be pulled out of the conflict zones. Russia said this could trigger a new civil war, as the breakaway regions have rejected the policy pursued by Georgia.
