U.N. wants Russian peacekeepers to stay in zone of Georgian-Abkhazian conflict

It is in the interests of the UN that the Collective Peacekeeping Forces of the Commonwealth of Independent States, consisting mostly of Russian peacekeepers, should stay in the zone of the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict. According to a source in the Russian Foreign Ministry, this statement was voiced during a Tuesday meeting between Russia's 1st Deputy Foreign Minister Valery Loshchinin and special representative of the UN Secretary-General to Georgia Heidi Tagliavini.

The UN officer said Russian peacekeepers were a stabilizing factor in the region and constructively cooperated with the UN mission to Georgia.

The sides proceeded to discuss "possible steps and actions to secure the positive dynamics that cropped up in the Georgian-Abkhazian settlement process after the Sochi meeting between the presidents of Russia and Georgia with the Abkhazian side attending," said RIA Novosti's source.

"The sides are satisfied with the first sessions of groups working to upgrade the Inguri Hydroelectric Power Plant, open regular railway traffic in Abkhazia, and organize return of refugees to the Gali region," the source said.