SUKHUMI. Dec 17 (Interfax-AVN) - Sergei Bagapsh, a candidate for the presidency of Georgia's breakaway province of Abkhazia, said his republic has already become accustomed to hawkish statements by Georgian defense ministers, but newly appointed Defense Minister Irakly Okruashvili lacks good manners.
"The people of Abkhazia have already determined the status of their republic. And further discussions of this problem are unnecessary. We will never change our policy aimed at further integration with Russia, either. But we are ready for a dialogue with Georgia in the form of negotiations between two equal subjects of international law," Bagapsh told Interfax on Friday.
"By his warlike rhetoric, Okruashvili is only delaying a political settlement of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict," he sad.
Okruashvili said in an earlier interview that he plans to restore Georgia's territorial integrity within five years. "Within the next five years, Bagapsh should return to his native Russia, or be gathered to his fathers," the minister said.
"As far as the Georgian minister's remarks are concerned, it must be a matter of his upbringing, and it is difficult to do anything about this," Bagapsh said.