GEORGIA-RUSSIA: MFA ON KODORI GORGE

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 008047 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/27/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR MOPS GG RS SUBJECT: GEORGIA-RUSSIA: MFA ON KODORI GORGE Classified By: A/POL Colin Cleary. Reason 1.4 (b, d) ¶1. (C) We discussed the Kodori Gorge situation July 27 with Dmitriy Tarabrin, Acting Director of the MFA Fourth CIS Department. Tarabrin said the operation had a "military character" that made it a violation of the May 11 1994 ceasefire agreement on Abkhazia. Russia did not, however, want to "dramatize" the situation. ¶2. (C) Tarabrin warned, however, that Georgia should not use the operation as a mask to create a military stronghold in Kodori that would threaten Abkhazia. We replied that we have urged the Georgians not to provoke the Abkhaz and to withdraw once the police operation was concluded. We urged Russia to use its influence with the Abkhaz to ensure they remain quiet. "It is already done," Tarabrin replied. ¶3. (C) Tarabrin said that the Russian Charge in Tbilisi had handed the MFA's statement on Kodori to DFM Chechelashvili. Other than that, there had been no communication between Russia and Georgia on the issue. We asked about a possible Putin-Saakashvili meeting. Tarabrin said Putin is in Sochi most of August, but soon thereafter was a possibility. He added that the MFA had tried to convince the Presidential Administration to set aside an hour for Saakashvili at the informal CIS Summit in Moscow on July 21-22. The Presidential Administration had refused. BURNS