Georgia’s Foreign Ministry concerned by Russian-Abkhazian “military agreement”

Georgia’s Foreign Ministry has revealed its concern over Russia’s aggressive actions in Georgia’s occupied regions and signing such “documents” with de-facto leaderships that are rough violations of international law and create threats for regional security.

The Georgian body has announced that on November 26, 2015 the Russian Federation and the break-away regime of Abkhazia concluded yet another document concerning military cooperation.

In particular, the so-called “agreement” on the creation of the joint group of armed forces was signed.

“Abkhazia is an integral part of Georgia and does not represent an independent subject of any international law; therefore, any attempt to sign an ‘agreement’ with the region is a gross violation of international law and constitutes an illegal action devoid of legal consequences,” Georgia’s Foreign Ministry statement read.

Following the lead, the Ministry assessed the incident as “another Russian provocation on Georgian soil, creating a threat to the security of Georgia and the wider region”.

In this context, the Ministry also recalled the earlier “Treaty on Alliance and Strategic Partnership” between Abkhazia and Russia and stressed that the actions displayed Russia’s complete disregard for the international obligations and fundamental principles of international law.

“Having signed these documents, Russia, despite the Georgian Government's repeated calls, once again infringed the provisions of the 12 August 2008 Ceasefire Agreement that is of particular concern given the absence of international mechanisms in the occupied regions and Russia's persistent refusal to undertake the non-use of force pledge,” Georgia’s Foreign Ministry said and called on the international community to give due assessment to Russia's illegal step and to take appropriate measures in order to prevent a further escalation of the fragile security situation in the region.

On this note, the Abkhaz news agency Sputnik-Abkhazia.ru wrote that by the end of 2018, a special site would be set up in Abkhazia for the joint Russian-Abkhazian armed forces.

In his interview for the news agency, the Abkhaz Defence Minister Merab Kishmaria stated that the agreement was “first of all in the interests of Abkhazia, as we lack trained soldiers and necessary military equipment to defend ourselves in case of any attack from Georgia.”

Russia recognised Georgia’s de-facto regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia (Tskhinvali) as independent republics after the Russian-Georgian war of 2008.

Since that time, the Russian Federation has launched a creeping occupation on Georgian soil. The most regrettable fact is that Georgia can only verbally protest the incidents and that the international community also limits its responses to permanent violations of the international law. Recent tension between Russia and Turkey also revealed that world powers refrain from strong action against Russia, while the latter does its best to economically and politically destroy its rivals.