U.S. Diplomats Visit Abkhazia in the Wake of Geneva Talks

Several senior U.S. diplomats plan to visit breakaway Abkhazia and hold talks with the unrecognized republic’s leadership on April 11, after reported talks that apparently took place in Sochi last week between Russian President Vladimir Putin and leaders of Georgia’s secessionist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. This visit by the U.S. diplomats also follows the UN-led Georgian-Abkhaz talks that took place in Geneva on April 7-8 and which were hailed by both sides as “a sign of positive impulse.”

The anticipated U.S. delegation will include Senior Advisor for Caspian Basin Energy Diplomacy Ambassador Steven Mann, who is also the Special Negotiator for Nagorno-Karabakh and Eurasian Conflicts, U.S. Ambassador to Georgia Richard Miles and other officials, according to the U.S. Embassy in Georgia. No details of the purpose of this visit have been reported yet.

The meeting between Putin and Abkhaz leader Sergey Bagapsh and South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity that reportedly occurred on April 5 in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi was confirmed only by the authorities from the two secessionists regions. But some unofficial sources in Sokhumi indicated that although Bagapsh and Kokoity really visited Sochi, they did not meet with Putin there. Russian officials have made no comment about this reported meeting.

Georgian Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze said that if the report about this meeting is confirmed, “it will be a reason for a harsh reaction from Georgia, as this fact is beyond the norms of international norms.”

Meanwhile, two-day talks between the Abkhaz and Georgian sides in Geneva, with the participation of the UN Secretary General’s Group of Friends for Georgia, including France, Germany, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States, ended in Geneva on April 8 with the adoption of a final statement envisaging the opening of a human rights office in the predominantly Georgian-populated district of Gali, in Abkhazia. Chairman of the Tbilisi-based Abkhaz government-in-exile Irakli Alasania, who participated in the talks in the capacity of the Georgian President’s representative for Abkhaz issues said that “it is a very positive impulse when the Abkhaz side agrees to solve very concrete issues.”

“I am very positive about these talks. In a final statement, adopted at the meeting, those issues have been reflected which are of vital importance for us: opening of human rights office [in Gali], launching of the UN civilian police component [also in Gali], as well as the issue of a necessity to promptly solve the problem of the return of internally displaced persons, also aspects of economic cooperation. We have agreed to hold a large conference in Berlin, with the invitation of German side, which will be focused on economic rehabilitation projects. Before [this conference] meetings will also take place to solve the issues related with the IDPs’ return. So I am very satisfied,” Irakli Alasania said in an interview to the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) Georgian service on April 8.

But Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues Goga Khaindrava, who also participated in the talks, expressed more cautious optimism and said that because of Russia’s role, the results of talks were less positive than expected.

“The fact of how the situation will develop in Gali will indicate whether the Abkhaz side’s statements are really sincere or not. It will also show whether Russia is sincere about facilitating this process or not. A meeting of this kind is very useful, but it is difficult to say now that a breakthrough has been made. But, the results of these talks are more moderate than we expected. This is caused by Russia’s position, which expressed complaints regarding the failed meeting [between Georgia President Mikheil Saakashvili and Russian President Vladimir Putin with separatist leaders Sergey Bagapsh of Abkhazia and Eduard Kokoity of S.Ossetia] in Sochi, which was absolutely unprepared and which would have no results at all,” Goga Khaindrava said in an interview with RFE/RL Georgian service.