Russian MFA welcomes UN Security Council's resolution on Abkhazian-Georgian conflict

On April 13, the Security Council of the United Nations (UNSC) unanimously adopted the resolution on a six-month extension of the mandate of the UN Mission for Monitoring in Georgia (UNMMG) in the Abkhazian-Georgian conflict zone till October 15, 2007. It is stated in the memorandum of the Department for Information and Print of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Russia that "this UNSC's resolution that has been most actively coordinated by the Russian Federation is a major step forward in the cause of Georgian-Abkhazian settlement. A point of principle is that this SC's decision is unambiguously confirming Resolution 1716 and its key elements."

The Security Council calls on Tbilisi and Sukhum to promptly finalize coordination of the documents on refusal from violence, return of refugees and internally displaced persons.

At the same time, the Russian MFA regrets that "the SC members were deprived of a chance to hear the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Abkhazia as a representative of the internationally-recognized party in the conflict."

We note here that the UNSC's resolution was also positively assessed by Sergey Shamba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Abkhazia. However, he emphasized that the adoption of the resolution "in no case means that negotiations with Georgia will automatically resume overnight."