ALMATY. March 1 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has confirmed that Moscow's devotion to Georgia's territorial integrity remains unchanged.
"This is our fundamental position," Putin told the press following a meeting with his Georgian counterpart Eduard Shevardnadze at the Kazakh alpine resort of Chimbulak on Friday.
Putin also said he trusts Shevardnadze when he says that Georgia intends to settle the conflict with Abkhazia only by political methods.
Shevardnadze said in turn that Abkhazia should understand that it will never be an independent state, or even Russia's associate member. "Russia will never allow this," the Georgian leader stressed.