Abkhazia No Problem for Sochi Olympics ? Russian Official

The Abkhaz conflict will create no problems for the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, as it will be resolved by then, Vladimir Kozhin, a top aide of the Russian president, told Echo Moskvy radio station on July 12.

?I do not think we will have problems in respect of Abkhazia. The conflict will be resolved? And Russia will act as a guarantor to secure [resolution of the conflict], around the negotiating table,? Kozhin said.

?We could not have won the Olympics if the problem were serious,? he added.

Kozhin, who is head of the Russian President?s affairs directorate, also leads the Russian association of winter sports.

Sochi is less than 40 kilometers from breakaway Abkhazia.

Some observers in Georgia, as well as the authorities in Tbilisi, have welcomed Sochi’s victory, seeing in it positive implications for Georgia?s separatist conflicts.

Others, however, have been more cautious, saying that Russia, as a result of the games, would further tighten its grip on Abkhazia, which would lead to a further freezing of the conflict.

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)