Security Council decries lack of progress in resolving conflict in Abkhazia, Georgia

The continued lack of progress on key issues concerning a comprehensive settlement of the conflict in Abkhazia, Georgia, was unacceptable, the Security Council said this afternoon.

In a statement read out by Council President Jeremy Greenstock of the United Kingdom, the Council underlined the importance of early negotiations on the core political questions relating to the conflict.

In that context, it strongly supported the efforts of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the region, Dieter Boden, to promote the achievement of a comprehensive political settlement based on Council decisions, which must include a resolution of the political status of Abkhazia.

The Council also welcomed Mr. Boden's intention to submit a draft paper containing specific proposals on the distribution of constitutional competencies between Tbilisi and Sukhumi as a starting point for negotiations.

Prior to adopting its statement, the Council was briefed in private by Mr. Boden. The Minister for Special Affairs of Georgia, Malkhaz Kakabadze, also participated in the Council's private meeting.

The conflict in Abkhazia, strategically located on the Black Sea in the north-western region of the Republic of Georgia, began with social unrest and attempts by the local authorities to separate from the Republic. It escalated into a series of armed confrontations in the summer of 1992 when the Government of Georgia deployed 2,000 Georgian troops in Abkhazia.

A ceasefire agreement was reached on 3 September 1992 in Moscow by the Republic of Georgia, the leadership of Abkhazia and the Russian Federation. In 1993, the United Nations established the UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) to help monitor compliance with the ceasefire.