(Tbilisi, June 21, Civil Georgia) – The US supports extending the Russian peacekeepers’ mandate in Abkhazia for another six-month period, press statement of Richard Boucher, Spokesman of the US Department of State, released on June 20, says.
Russian peacekeeping forces’ mandate, deployed in the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict zone under the auspices of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), expires on June 30.
“We encourage the parties to the Abkhazia conflict to accept the paper on Basic Principles for the Distribution of Competencies Between Tbilisi and Sukhumi prepared by the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative. We call on the parties to enter into a dialogue to resolve outstanding issues on the basis of the Special Representative’s paper,” the press statement says.
The details of the document remain secret but according to the Georgian authorities, the document considers Abkhazia’s status within the Georgian state. Abkhazian side is against starting negotiations on the basis of this document.
“Like Georgia, the United States wants to see rapid progress towards political negotiations to resolve the conflict over the region of Abkhazia as well as the return of displaced persons,” the press statement reports.