Georgia angered by Russian FM’s scheduled trip to Abkhazia
Georgia is sharply criticizing Moscow over a planned visit to the Abkhazia region by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
RFE/RL quotes Georgian prime minister's special representative for relations with Russia, Zurab Abashidze as saying on April 18 that that the two-day visit would be a "violation of Georgia's sovereignty."
Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister David Jalagania said Russia was "ignoring...international principles and laws."
During the April 18-19 visit, Lavrov was scheduled to meet with officials in the separatist leadership and attend a ceremony marking the opening of new buildings for what Russia calls its embassy in Abkhazia.
Abkhazia broke from Georgian central government control in a 1992-93 war.
Russia recognized Abkhazia and breakaway South Ossetia as independent countries after fighting a five-day war against Tbilisi in 2008 and maintains thousands of troops in the two regions.
Only a handful of countries have followed Russia's lead in recognizing Abkhazia and South Ossetia, while the vast majority consider them to be parts of Georgia.