SUKHUMI, July 24 (RIA Novosti, Indira Bartsits) - Two checkpoints of Russian peacekeepers in the Kodori Gorge in Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia have been put on high alert over fears of escalating tensions, a peacekeeper said Monday.
Sergei Chaban, commander of the Collective Peacekeeping Forces in the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict zone, said the peacekeeping command would demand monitoring of the situation in the gorge at an upcoming meeting between Georgian and Abkhazian authorities, with UN military observers' participation.
The Kodori Gorge is Abkhazia's only region controlled by Georgian authorities.
However, a source in Abkhazia's Defense Ministry said the situation in the gorge was under control, and the unrecognized republic's armed forces were operating as usual. The source said the lower part of the gorge was being continually monitored, and that no violations of the Moscow ceasefire agreement had been registered.
