Russia discusses Georgian-Abkhazian settlement with western countries

In the course of a June 14 meeting with the heads of the diplomatic missions of the United Kingdom, Germany, the U.S. and France, which are Russia's fellow members of the Group of Friends of the UN Secretary General, Valery Loshchinin, Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister, paid particular attention to the ongoing Georgian-Abkhazian conflict.

According to the Information and Press Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Loshchinin informed the Western diplomats of the results of his consultations with the Abkhaz side. In this context, the sides considered the attitude of Sukhumi to the draft document on the status of Abkhazhia, which had been elaborated by Dieter Bohlen, the UN Secretary-General's envoy to Georgia.

As the Russian Foreign Ministry reports, the sides also examined the possibility of extending the mandate of the CIS Collective Security Force to maintain peace in the area of the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict. The meeting participants said they were hopeful that Russia and Georgia would be able to achieve an adequate and timely agreement on the issue.