This week Dmitry Medvedev confirmed again that Russia is interested in recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, but "it is not an end in itself".
Medvedev also noted that the president of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, promised to recognize the sovereignty of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in the presence of the heads of several CIS countries. It is unlikely that Belarus will make the decision expected by Russian authorities in the near future, as relations between Moscow and Minsk still remain quite complicated.
The situation surrounding the non-recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia is becoming even more complicated due to the forthcoming Olympic Games-2014. The Olympics are to take place near the Russian-Abkhazian border. Recently, the head of the Federal Security Service (FSB), Alexander Bortnikov, has said that he possesses “ information on the intention of some bandit leaders to frustrate the Sochi Winter Olympics”.
The border patrol ship "Novorossisk" has already started patrolling the sea border of Abkhazia. Nine more ships are to join it.
Last week the FSB and their Abkhazian colleagues carried out military manoeuvres in Sukhumi bay. Russia was represented by aircraft and a group of warships. Abkhazia was represented by aircraft, members of the law-enforcement agencies and a group of border guards. Altogether, 300 servicemen, 10 tanks, 2 helicopters, 3 border guard boats, a small anti-submarine ship and a mobile radar complex took part in the manoeuvres.
The scenario for the manoeuvres is that a terrorist-controlled vessel is spotted in the Abkhazian sea area trying to seize the Sukhumi capital tank farm. The Russian ambassador to Sukhumi, Semen Grigoriev, came to watch the manoeuvres. "The state of affairs in the Black Sea zone is no longer a cause for anxiety… However, the existing tendencies in the development of the regional situation force Russia and its allies to maintain a high level of combat readiness," he noted.
The head of the FSB border guard department in Abkhazia, Yuri Zviruk, said that the next joint manoeuvres will take place in autumn 2010 in the mountains. Security in the mountains of Abkhazia is of paramount importance, due to the fact that a highway is planned to be constructed from Karachaevo-Circassia to Abkhazia. There are two variants of the project. The road will either connect Cherkessk and Sukhumi, or Cherkessk and Adler. The first variant’s main advantage is that the road may be built on the former route of the Sukhumi Military Road. The second project is advantageous due to the fact that the road will connect the sea resorts of Abkhazia and Krasnodar Krai with the ski resorts of Karachaevo-Circassia, Kabardino-Balkaria and North Ossetia. The Russian minister of transport, Igor Levitin, said that the road should be paid for and constructed in partnership between private business and the state.
However, today the only checkpoint on the Russian-Abkhazian border is still "Adler". It is estimated that 1500 people and 620 vehicles pass through the checkpoint daily, but this summer about 40 thousand people and more than three thousand cars and buses are passing through here every day. A new checkpoint is under construction and it is also planned to repair the old one.
Pavel Martynov, exclusively to VK
