Bagapsh Changes Language to Describe Georgian-Abkhaz Talks

According to the Russian news agency “Interfax,” newly inaugurated Abkhaz President Sergey Bagapsh spoke, during a news briefing, about a resumption of Georgian-Abkhaz talks. However, the language employed by the de-facto President differed from commonly used language to describe these negotiations, referring to these talks as a means to “liquidate the ‘results’ of the conflict”.

Until now, these talks have been described in Russian as attempts to “regulate the conflict,” generally translated in English as “conflict settlement.”

The phrase “liquidating the results” is commonly used in Russian to describe the works necessary to rehabilitate certain areas following natural disasters.

This change of language is in line with the Abkhaz leadership’s position that any talks with Georgia pursue a discussion of infrastructural and economic issues, while the political resolution of the conflict – de facto Abkhaz independence – is non-negotiable and these talks should therefore be framed in the context of “rehabilitation” rather than “settlement.”