TBILISI, September 26 (AVN) - Georgian Defence Minister Irakly Menagarishvili denied on Tuesday that the boost of the country's contacts with the NATO would result in loosing ties with other members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
The minister was asked by the Military News Agency to comment on the results of NATO Secretary-General George Robertson's visit to Georgia that is to end on Tuesday.
The authorities of Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia believe, however, that Tbilisi is strengthening co-operation with NATO to force Russia out of the Trans-Caucasus and involve the North Atlantic Alliance in the settlement of the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict. Abkhazia will never accept NATO's participation in the settlement or replacement of Russian peacekeepers in the conflict zone with those of the Alliance, Deputy Defence Minister of the self-proclaimed Abkhazian republic Garri Kupalba said on Tuesday.
According to him, NATO should also stop unilateral assistance to Georgia, as the nation is "effectively in the state of war with Abkhazia." In other case, this assistance can become a factor capable of persuading Georgia to scale up tensions in the conflict zone, the deputy minister said.