US Chides Russia For Lifting Sanctions On Georgian Region

US Chides Russia For Lifting Sanctions On Georgian Region
UNITED NATIONS (AFP)--The U.S. Tuesday chided Russia for its decision to lift trade sanctions imposed on the Georgian breakaway region of Abkhazia and
reaffirmed support for Georgia's territorial integrity.
"The United States regrets Russia's decision to withdraw unilaterally from the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) sanctions on Abkhazia," U.S.
Ambassador to the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters.
"We do not see how it contributes to stability in the South Caucasus, resolution of the Abkhazian conflict or improvement of Russian-Georgian relations," he added.
Last week, Moscow said it was lifting the largely symbolic trade restrictions imposed on Abkhazia, but denied it had been influenced by Western support for
Kosovo's independence.
The Russian foreign ministry then said that Moscow "no longer considers itself bound by the terms" of a sanctions accord approved by the ex-Soviet CIS in 1996.
The sanctions were imposed as part of efforts to limit the separatist aspirations of Abkhazia, one of two such breakaway Georgian territories that lie on Russia's
southern border, the other being South Ossetia.
Georgia's U.N. envoy, Irakli Alasania, restated his country's view that Moscow's action could open the way for Moscow to sell arms to the region and to allow
Russian citizens to join separatist forces in Abkhazia.
He told a press conference that that lifting of the Russian sanctions, "under the pretext of promoting a resolution of the situation in Abkhazia, creates the conditions for
destabilization and undermines the legal framework underpinning the process of a return to peace initiated by the CIS."
"We support the territorial integrity of Georgia and the settlement of the territorial dispute within its internationally recognized borders," Khalilzad reaffirmed Tuesday.
"Most alarming is the prospect that Russia's withdrawal from sanctions could lead the way to arms transfers to the separatists," he added.
"This is a time when renewed dialogue between Georgia and Russia is most needed to address a number of bilateral issues. It is our hope that Russia would play a
constructive role in the region helping resolve the conflict through peaceful means and dialogue.
Khalilzad conceded that Russia has "legitimate interests in the region which we hope Russia would pursue in a way consistent with Georgia's territorial integrity."
Russia's U.N. ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, dismissed suggestions that Moscow's action on Abkhazia was linked to the West's support for Kosovo's declaration of
independence.
But he emphasized "the negative impact which the Kosovo example has been setting" while stating Moscow's call for "a negotiated outcome of complex situations."
Russia's ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Dmitry Rogozin, meanwhile, said Tuesday that "in the case of any invitation to Georgia on the part of
NATO, driven by the United States, we can expect the separation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia."
Abkhazia and South Ossetia broke away from Georgia in conflicts in the early 1990s in which thousands of people were killed and hundreds of thousands of ethnic
-Georgians were forced to leave their homes.
Both have called for international recognition of their self-declared independence, citing Kosovo's move to separate from Serbia as a precedent, a move recognized
by several European NATO nations and the U.S.