Georgia seeks western help to remove Russian forces

GEORGIA said yesterday it would seek Western support to replace Russian peacekeepers in the breakaway province of Abkhazia with an international force, but Nato struck a cautious note.

“Russia’s presence, the presence of the Russian contingent in the conflict zone, is becoming a risk factor,” Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili told a meeting with foreign ambassadors broadcast by national television.

“We plan to start intensive negotiations with countries that are Georgia’s friends about the expediency of the Russian peacekeeping contingent’s presence in the conflict zone.”

Russia sent peacekeepers to Abkhazia in 1994 after it brokered a deal between Tbilisi and Abkhaz separatists ending nearly two years of war in which thousands of people died and hundreds of thousands were made refugees.

Since then, Tbilisi has accused Moscow of backing the separatists. The row over Abkhazia and another breakaway region, South Ossetia, has become the most difficult issue in Georgia’s relations with Russia.

The fate of Abkhazia and South Ossetia has become a major bargaining chip in Moscow’s efforts to prevent Georgia, ruled by a pro-Western government since 2005, from joining Nato.

Georgia wants Russian peacekeepers to be replaced by a Western force. Russia says it has responsibility for the security of its citizens, which make up the majority of residents in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

“I cannot say that Nato is looking for a direct role in peacekeeping or in dealing with conflicts in this region,” Robert Simmons, the Nato secretary general’s special envoy for South Caucasus and Central Asia, told a news conference.

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his government to establish close ties with the two rebel provinces. Saakashvili said the move amounted to annexation of the two regions by Russia.