TBILISI, May 15 (RIA Novosti) - Georgia and Abkhazia praised the results of UN-sponsored talks held Monday as a bid to break a long-standing impasse over the status of the self-proclaimed republic.
A joint coordination council that met in Tbilisi for four hours of talks included representatives of both sides, as well as from the five-nation Group of Friends of the UN Secretary General - Russia, Germany, France, Britain and the U.S. - to discuss security questions, the return of refugees, and economic projects in the conflict zone.
"We will carefully study the document given to us today. At first sight, there are things that we can already leave in place," Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues Giorgi Khaindrava said, adding that Georgia would look for compromises in areas of disagreement.
Abkhazia, a region 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. Moscow cultivates close ties with the region, and has granted Russian citizenship to many of its residents. Russia also has peacekeepers stationed in the region.
Abkhaz Foreign Minister Sergei Shamba, who headed the Abkhaz delegation, told journalists: "Our settlement plan ... is our vision and prospect for settlement of the conflict. We propose a plan that would give us a possibility for peaceful coexistence."
During a war in 1992-93, more than 300,000 people, including 240,000 ethnic Georgians, fled Abkhazia. Tbilisi says about 40,000 people have since returned, but Abkhazian officials put the number at 60,000.
