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| CIS leaders at the press-conference in Astana Photo: Russian President’s Press Office |
The summit of the CIS states, which unites 12 former soviet states, mainly focused on cooperation over fighting terrorism; however the issue of Abkhazia was also put on the agenda. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said at the press-conference following the summit that the resolution adopted by the 10 leaders participating in the summit (the President of Turkmenistan Saparmurat Niyazov, as well as Moldavian President Vladimir Voronin did not participated in the summit), reiterated their commitment to refrain from all kinds of contacts with the separatist regime in breakaway Abkhazia without prior notification of Tbilisi.
Russia’s unilateral decision to reopen its railway communication between Moscow and the Abkhaz capital of Sokhumi on September 10 infuriated the Georgian government and triggered Tbilisi to push the issue at the CIS summit in Astana.
“The problem of Abkhazia was put on the agenda of the CIS summit and I am glad that today the CIS summit took a decision over Abkhazia, where the leaders of the CIS countries reiterated their commitment to follow previous CIS agreements, including the resolutions adopted in 1995 and in 1996, over the ceasing of all kinds of ties with the Abkhazian separatist regime, and which also prohibits economic, as well as transport, ties with the separatist regime,” President Saakashvili said at a joint press-conference, which was also attended by 9 other Presidents from CIS countries, including Vladimir Putin.
“The CIS member countries reaffirmed their commitment to refrain from undertaking unilateral actions directed against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia,” said Mikheil Saakashvili, quoting the CIS resolution.
“I am glad that the CIS supported this decision, including Russia, and we hope that this decision will be fulfilled. We support a peaceful solution of conflicts within frames of Georgia’s territorial integrity,” Mikheil Saakashvili added.
But in regards to a journalist who questioned whether the reopening of the Moscow-Sokhumi rail link triggered more tensions between Moscow and Tbilisi, Putin answered that economic pressure does not help to resolve the conflict.
“We are fully convinced that a resolution of conflicts is possible only through negotiations and through taking into consideration the opinion of all sides involved in the conflict. We think that an economic blockade, not to mention military pressure, do not result in resolving problems,” the Russian President said.
“We think that today’s decision, as well as all other previous decisions [made during CIS summits over Abkhazia] including [the one made in] 1996 does not restrict commercial activity of the non-state organization [in Abkhazia]. In Sochi [in March, 2003], we agreed with Georgia’s ex-President [Eduard Shevardnadze] to synchronize the process of restoration of the transport links and the return of internally displaced persons to the Gali district [in breakaway Abkhazia]. According to the estimations made by independent experts, around 50-60 thousand displaced persons have already returned [to the Gali district],” Putin said.
Putin’s statement immediately prompted Mikheil Saakashvili to response by saying that Georgia’s displaced persons’ sporadic return to the Gali district without any security guarantees will not solve the problem. He also blamed the Russian state-run organization for direct involvement in maintaining contacts with the Abkhazian de facto authorities.
“I want to agree with Mr. Putin that all the issues should be solved through dialogue. I think that Russia can, and should, play a positive role in resolving these conflicts… but at the same time I want to say that 300,000 Georgians were forced to flee Abkhazia and even if a chaotic return occurs in one particular district of Abkhazia, where they have no rights and are like slaves, this does not solve the problem,” Mikheil Saakashvili said.
“I am really happy that the Russian President reiterated that the CIS agreements are still in force, but at the same time we are really surprised by the presence of the chief of the state-run railroad organization, Mr. [Genadi] Fadeev, in Sokhumi and the demonstration of the fact that the chief of the state-run organization participates in direct contacts with the separatists. This is prohibited by the CIS agreements,” added President Saakashvili.
The railway infrastructure in Abkhazia was restored through active involvement by the state-run Russian Railway Company; its Chief, Genadi Fadeev even participated in the official opening ceremony of the Moscow-Sokhumi rail link, which took place in Sokhumi on September 10.
Saakashvili and Putin were engaged in a spar of words for several minutes, until the Russian President suggested a continuation of this “dispute” during a face-to-face meeting.
“We will have the chance to further dispute, but now I think there might be other questions [from journalists]… this is not an appropriate format for discussing these issues, because this is a problem in which other sides are also involved, but here are not representatives of Abkhazia… We will discuss all these issues with my colleague Mikheil Saakashvili after this press-conference,” Putin said.
Bilateral talks took place after the press-conference in Astana, however none of the Presidents made comments following the meeting, hence details of the talks remain unknown. President Saakashvili, who always meets Georgian journalist to speak about the results of his foreign visits, did not make comments even after his arrival from Astana.