ABKHAZIA READY TO SIGN MILITARY AGREEMENT WITH RUSSIA

The Georgian breakaway republic of Abkhazia is prepared to sign a military agreement with Russia, the Abkhaz Foreign Minister said Monday. "We are ready to sign a military agreement with Russia. We are ready to observe all Russian interests in the region in exchange for military protection by Russia and open economic cooperation. There are more possibilities for conclusion of an agreement now," Sergei Shamba said. Shamba also said if Russia had an interest in a military presence in Abkhazia, then the republic was ready to oblige. "We realize that Russia has military interests in Abkhazia, because it’s a strategically important region," he said. The head of the Russian lower house’s committee on CIS affairs, Alexei Ostrovsky, suggested on Monday waiting until Abkhazia’s status has been better defined before talking about a possible Russian military presence in the republic. Abkhazia and South Ossetia broke away from Georgia in 1991 following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Georgia is looking to regain control over the two republics. Russian President Vladimir Putin called earlier this month for closer ties with the breakaway republics. Putin’s statement provoked an angry response from Tbilisi, with Georgia’s foreign minister accusing Russia of attempting "to annex" the two republics. Georgia also claims that on April 20 a Russian MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter from the Gudauta military base in Abkhazia, where Russian peacekeepers have been stationed since the end of a bloody conflict in the early 1990s, shot down a Georgian drone, a claim Russia has denied. The incidents have seen relations between Moscow and Tbilisi plunge to a new low. Ex-Soviet breakaway regions have stepped up their drive for self-rule since Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia on February 17. Abkhazia and South Ossetia, along with Moldova’s Transnistria, have all asked Russia’s parliament, the UN, and other organizations to recognize their independence. The State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, proposed in March that the president and the government consider the issue of whether to recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Valery Kenyaikin, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s ambassador at large, said on April 25 that Russia would do everything possible to protect the interests of Russian citizens living in Georgia’s breakaway republics. "We will not leave our citizens in Abkhazia and South Ossetia in difficulty and this should be clearly understood... We will do everything possible to avert a military conflict." He also added however that Russia would "have to use military force," if the need arose. Sergei Mironov, speaker of the Federation Council, Russia’s upper house of parliament, said on Monday, commenting on Kenyaikin’s statement that: "Russia proceeds from the fact that a great number of Russians live in Abkhazia. It is evident that if there is a threat to the lives of Russian nationals - or any other threat - Russia will not remain on the sidelines." Also on Monday, acting Georgian Foreign Minister David Bakradze called Mironov’s statement an attempt by Moscow to switch to "a policy of military aggression." "This threatens switching from a policy of annexing our territories to a policy of direct military aggression," he told journalists in Brussels. Georgia’s Rustavi-2 TV company also quoted Bakradze as saying that Georgia would attempt to get Russian peacekeeping forces stationed in Abkhazia replaced with NATO peacekeepers. NATO spokesman James Appathurai told Georgian TV reporters in Brussels that all NATO members believe that the Russian peacekeeping contingent should leave the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict zone. Vakhtang Lezhava, a deputy Georgian economic development minister, told journalists on Monday that Georgia would link its consent to Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization to the Abkhazia and South Ossetia issue. He said in particular that Tbilisi was seeking a retraction of President Putin’s statement on the strengthening of ties with the breakaway republics, RIA Novosti reports.

<< | Home | >>

E-mail article | Discuss article new!

RSS © Panarmenian

Headlines for April 29, 2008

EU HOPES FOR SOONEST MEETING OF ARMENIAN, AZERI FMS
The European Union (EU) stressed on Monday the significance of international coordination on Kosovo, in particular during the transition period. At a meeting of the EU Troika with the delegation of the ...
U.S SURRENDERS TO 90-YEAR DENIAL CAMPAIGN BY TURKISH GOVERNMENT
On April 23rd, International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) and Genocide Watch President, Dr. Greg Stanton, gave keynote remarks at the Capitol Hill Observance of the Armenian Genocide, organized ...
U.S. TURKISH LOBBY GOING TO EXPAND ITS POLITICAL INFLUENCE
Turkish-American groups are making a bid to expand their political influence in the United States, expressly aiming to counter the considerable sway of their Armenian American rivals on Capitol Hill. ...
ABKHAZIA READY TO SIGN MILITARY AGREEMENT WITH RUSSIA
The Georgian breakaway republic of Abkhazia is prepared to sign a military agreement with Russia, the Abkhaz Foreign Minister said Monday. "We are ready to sign a military agreement with Russia. We are ...
RA NA OFFERS PRESIDENT TO BRISK UP EFFORTS FOR KARABAKH SETTLEMENT
The Armenian National Assembly passed Tuesday the statement on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement. The document backed by all parliamentary factions, with exception of Heritage faction which did ...
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MUSEUMS OF AMERICA AND ARMENIA SIGN COOPERATION AGREEMENT
The Armenian Genocide Museum of America (AGMA) and the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute (AGMI) at the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex in Yerevan, Armenia, announced the signing in Yerevan of a permanent ...
U.S. SENATE: UKRAINE, GEORGIA TO BE ADMITTED TO NATO
The U.S. Senate approved a resolution in support to Ukraine and Georgia’s accession to NATO. The Senators called on the Alliance’s Foreign Ministers to give green light to the countries’ bids for MAP. ...
STEPHEN HARPER: WE HOPE VALUES OF TOLERANCE AND OPENNESS WILL GUIDE ARMENIA AND TURKEY IN DEVELOPING RELATIONS
Prime Minister of Canada, The Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper issued a statement by the on the day of Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, the Armenian National Committee of Canada told PanARMENIAN.Net. ...
RA PRESIDENT: ARTSAKHI PEOPLE WON RIGHT TO INDEPENDENCE
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan received Tuesday Bulgaria’s Ambassador to Armenia Todor Marinov Staikov, the presidential press office reported. The diplomat conveyed Bulgaria’s President Georgi Parvanov’s ...
NEARLY ALL CANADIAN POLITICAL FORCES STAND FOR INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Over 1,000 Canadian-Armenians from Montreal, Laval, Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton, Cambridge, and St. Catharines gathered on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on April 24 to commemorate the 93rd anniversary of the ...
RICE: WITH KARABAKH CONFLICT UNSETTLED, CONFLICTING SIDES GOING TO END UP FALLING BEHIND REGION
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made remarks at the Peace Corps 2008 Worldwide Country Director Conference. Touching upon developments in the Caucasus, Dr. Rice said, in part, “The Caucasus, ...
MEETINGS NOT TALKS HELD ON KARABAKH CONFLICT, BAKU SAYS
In order to hold talks on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement, representatives of the sides and experts should gather to carry out daily work following exact instructions, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign ...
ALL-ARMENIAN PILGRIMAGE TO KARABAKH STARTING MAY 1
All-Armenian pilgrimage to Karabakh will start in Holy Echmiadzin toward Shushi on May 1, the RA government’s press office reported. The pilgrimage will process under the slogan “Forward Armenia, Forward ...
PAUL GOBLE EMPLOYED BY AZERBAIJAN
Well-known U.S. politician Paul Goble will take the office of Research Director at the Azerbaijani Academy of Diplomacy and will also give a course of lectures in Azeri universities. The information was ...