Another attempt to negotiate this enduring regional conflict... After Russia's admission on July 10 that its military aircraft had flown through Georgian airspace, a livid Georgia requested a Security Council meeting with the participation of its representative. This followed a number of explosions in the breakaway region of Abkhazia, which killed, among three others, a staff member of the UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG). In addition to calling for today's meeting, Georgia has responded by bulking up its military, adding 5,000 soldiers and increasing its annual military spending by more than a quarter. Seeking to calm the increasingly volatile tension in the region, Germany's foreign minister, working with the so-called "Group of Friends" (which also includes the U.S., U.K., France, Russia,and Croatia met with the leaders of Georgia, Abkhazia, and Russia over the past week. Security Council Report describes the prospects for the peace deal that he has proposed to the various sides [note: Sukhumi = Abkhazia and Tbilisi = Georgia...good old synecdoche in the South Caucusus]. The three-phase peace plan envisages a first phase of confidence-building measures, including an end to violence and the return of Georgian refugees to Abkhazia; a second phase of reconstruction; and a final stage focusing on defining the status of Abkhazia. While the proposal is still being refined, initial reactions from Russia and Abkhazia have not been e ...
Anytime
Another attempt to negotiate this enduring regional conflict... After Russia's admission on July 10 that its military aircraft had flown through Georgian airspace, a livid Georgia requested a Security Council meeting with the participation of its representative. This followed a number of explosions in the breakaway region of Abkhazia, which killed, among three others, a staff member of the UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG). In addition to calling for today's meeting, Georgia has responded by bulking up its military, adding 5,000 soldiers and increasing its annual military spending by more than a quarter. Seeking to calm the increasingly volatile tension in the region, Germany's foreign minister, working with the so-called "Group of Friends" (which also includes the U.S., U.K., France, Russia,and Croatia met with the leaders of Georgia, Abkhazia, and Russia over the past week. Security Council Report describes the prospects for the peace deal that he has proposed to the various sides [note: Sukhumi = Abkhazia and Tbilisi = Georgia...good old synecdoche in the South Caucusus]. The three-phase peace plan envisages a first phase of confidence-building measures, including an end to violence and the return of Georgian refugees to Abkhazia; a second phase of reconstruction; and a final stage focusing on defining the status of Abkhazia. While the proposal is still being refined, initial reactions from Russia and Abkhazia have not been e ...