“We recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states and cooperation with them will continue on an exclusively intergovernmental basis that I’m sure will last,” Karasin told journalists in Moscow.
On November 24, 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Abkhazian leader Raul Khadzhimba signed an agreement on cooperation and strategic partnership. The agreement foresees the formation of a common space for defense and security including the creation of a joint military group force run cooperatively by both countries.
The parliament of Abkhazia has already ratified the document. Putin submitted the agreement to the Russian parliament on December 23, 2014.
Russia recognized Abkhazia and another breakaway Georgian province, South Ossetia, as independent states in August 2008, following a five-day war with Georgia. In response, Tbilisi severed diplomatic relations with Moscow and declared the two Caucasian republics to be occupied territories.
