MOSCOW. April 5 (Interfax-AVN) - Abkhaz President Sergei Bagapsh and South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity were ready to meet with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili in Sochi on Monday with mediation from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is also in Sochi, but the meeting failed to take place.
"The South Ossetian president, who is currently in Abkhazia, was ready for a meeting and expecting it. This is further proof that we are ready to use peaceful means to search for a solution. Kokoity was in Abkhazia, hoping until the last moment that the meeting would take place," South Ossetian envoy to Russia Dmitry Medoyev told reporters at the Interfax main office on Monday.
Abkhaz Foreign Minister Sergei Shamba, who also attended the news conference, confirmed that Bagapsh was ready for such a meeting.
The Georgian president refused to participate in the proposed meeting in such a format, Shamba said.
It is still possible that the meeting may take place in Sochi, he said.