BILATERAL MEETING BETWEEN GEORGIAN AND ABKHAZ

C O N F I D E N T I A L TBILISI 003406

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/CARC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/27/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM GG
SUBJECT: BILATERAL MEETING BETWEEN GEORGIAN AND ABKHAZ
OFFICIALS HELPS COMMUNICATION

REF: TBILISI 3250

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Mark X. Perry, reason 1.4(b) and (d).


1. (C) Georgian Deputy State Minister for Conflicts
Resolution Ruslan Abashidze returned December 21 from leading
a GoG delegation at the Conciliation Resources-organized
discussions in London with an Abkhaz delegation. He briefed
Charge about the results of the meeting. The Georgian
delegation included a representative of the Ministry of
Internal Affairs, Eka Zguladze, MFA officials, and members of
the Abkhaz government-in-exile now based in the Kodori Gorge.
The Abkhaz delegation included Gari Kupalba, de-facto deputy
minister of defense, Daur Kove, de facto deputy minister of
foreign affairs, Dmitri Shamba, economic advisor to de facto
president Bagapsh, a representative of the Abkhaz political
opposition and a member of the Armenian community in
Abkhazia. The Abkhaz governor of the Gali region, Ruslan
Kishmaria, was supposed to attend but cancelled because he
had his hands full at home with the aftermath of the
Chakaberia arrest (reftel).


2. (C) Abashidze characterized the discussions as
constructive, honest and helpful. He said the Russian shadow
was obvious and caused Abkhaz reticence, but with moments of
illumination. According to Abashidze, the discussion
included the following elements.

-- Kodori Gorge: The delegations spent most of two days
discussing Kodori. The Abkhaz admitted that the August
operation to seize Kodori was "well done" by the Georgians.
However, the Kodori situation is still a hot issue in Abkhaz
politics and the opposition is putting a lot of pressure on
Bagapsh to do something about it. As the campaigns for the
February/March Abkhazia parliamentary elections heat up, the
pressure will intensify on the de-facto government to take
stronger action against the Georgian presence Kodori, even to
the extent of using military force. The Abkhaz are firmly
against the Tbilisi-sponsored Abkhaz government-in-exile
based in Kodori Gorge. Regarding monitoring visits to the
Gorge, the Georgians proposed replacing the Russian PKF
members with Abkhaz observers. The Abkhaz were not prepared
to answer this proposal.

-- Return of Refugees: The Abkhaz representatives support
the return of IDPs, but gradually. In contrast, the
representative of the Armenian community spoke against the
return of IDPs.

-- NATO: The Georgians proposed sending representatives of
the Abkhaz de facto government on a study tour to Brussels to
learn more about NATO, its objectives, and what Intensive
Dialog is all about. The idea is to counter Abkhaz
misperceptions and help them see why moving toward NATO
membership is a good policy. The Abkhaz were not prepared to
give a response.

-- Economic Rehabilitation: The Georgians proposed the same
format for economic rehabilitation as is now being used in
South Ossetia, with a joint plan and a donor steering
committee. The Abkhaz agree that the focus should be on
economic development, but were not prepared to discuss format.

-- Existing Negotiating Mechanisms: The Georgians explained
why they would like to emphasize direct bilateral
negotiations and international involvement in the solution to
the conflict and providing guarantees. The Abkhaz
understood, but said it is important to keep the Russians
involved and protect Russian equities. In their view,
internationalization is not possible at this stage.


3. (C) Comment: We believe direct meetings such as these,
outside the formal UN framework, are useful to keep the
dialog going and build trust. In this case, neither side
seemed to be bent on scoring points either in the meeting or
in the media, but rather building a means of direct
communication about problems. Although no breakthroughs
occurred, the Abkhaz side was able to speak with a bit more
freedom than when Russian diplomats are present.
MXPERRY