Translated material
Trump seven
Georgia releases Abkhaz prisoners
There has been a thaw in the tense relations between Tbilisi and Sukhumi . Yesterday in Sukhumi, Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution David Bakradze, after a meeting organized by the UN mission with Abkhaz Foreign Minister Sergei Shamba, announced that as a sign of goodwill, seven Abkhaz prisoners of war would be released on Saturday. They were captured in the mountains of Abkhazia on September 20, when Georgian special forces penetrated deep into the territory of the unrecognized republic, surrounded a border guard training camp, shot two instructors and captured seven soldiers. The prisoners were placed in a Georgian prison and sentenced to two months of pre-trial detention.This incident drew criticism from the UN Security Council, which considered the situation around Abkhazia in mid-October. Russia sharply condemned Georgia's actions, seeing them as an attempt to aggravate the situation in the conflict zone. The chairman of the Georgian Parliamentary Commission for the restoration of territorial integrity, Shota Malashkhia, told Vremya Novostey that the extradition of prisoners does not mean that Tbilisi admits guilt in the events of September 20: “This is precisely a manifestation of goodwill aimed at defusing tensions. Israel also periodically grants amnesty to militants.”
Abkhazia broke off negotiations with Tbilisi in July 2006 due to the entry of Georgian forces into the Kodori Gorge . Sergei Shamba explained to Vremya Novostey that his meeting with the Georgian Minister of State “is not yet the return of Abkhazia to the negotiating table.” “From time to time there is a need to resolve specific issues that impede the settlement process,” the minister said. - This is the situation in the Kodori Gorge, in the Gali region. We are ready at this stage to resume weekly meetings on the operational situation.” Such meetings of the parties with the participation of UN observers and Russian peacekeepers were held in recent years in the settlement of Chuburkhindzhi in the Gali region of Abkhazia, predominantly populated by Georgians, but were also interrupted in 2006.
The previous visit of the Georgian Minister of State for Conflict Resolution to Sukhumi took place in December 2005, when this post was held by Georgy Khaindrava. “Here, in my office, with the participation of the UN special representative, we agreed to sign an agreement on the non-use of force and international security guarantees at the level of the presidents of Georgia and Abkhazia,” recalls Sergei Shamba. “Then Georgia abandoned it.” Demonstrating his readiness to find a compromise, Shamba departed from protocol and invited Bakradze to take a walk around Sukhumi. They even drank coffee under the palm trees on the famous embankment, which was captured by television journalists.
Abkhazia and the unrecognized republic of South Ossetia are in favor of signing peace agreements with Tbilisi, but Georgia is not interested in these proposals. Late on Wednesday evening at the OSCE office in Tbilisi, a meeting of the Mixed Control Commission on the Georgian-Ossetian settlement ended without results. The parties did not find a common language. Tbilisi insisted on international control over the Roki tunnel, which links South Ossetia with Russia; Georgia believes that weapons are supplied to the unrecognized republic along this route. Tskhinvali rejected these reproaches and proposed holding a meeting between the Georgian and South Ossetian presidents to agree on non-resumption of the war. As a result, not a single document was signed at the JCC meeting.
After this, the presidents of Abkhazia and South Ossetia Sergei Bagapsh and Eduard Kokoity phoned and agreed on mutual assistance. Sukhumi and Tskhinvali claim that Georgia is preparing armed provocations against them in early November in order to distract the people from internal problems (remember that a large-scale opposition rally is scheduled for November 2 in Tbilisi). Sergei Bagapsh said that Georgia has already begun transferring additional units and military equipment to the Kodori Gorge.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said yesterday that Georgia’s refusal “from the provocative course towards Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which leads to the ignition of a military fire directly on our southern borders” will also contribute to the improvement of relations between Moscow and Tbilisi. “The urgent first step should be the signing by the Georgian side with Sukhumi and Tskhinvali of documents on the non-use of force and security guarantees,” the head of Russian diplomacy emphasized.