Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze called on Russia to abstain from undermining Georgia's peace initiatives on Abkhazia and South Ossetia in his address to the UN General Assembly.
TBILISI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th September, 2018) Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze called on Russia to abstain from undermining Georgia's peace initiatives on Abkhazia and South Ossetia in his address to the UN General Assembly.
"We call this [peace] imitative A Step to a Better Future, which seeks precisely to provide the populations in the occupied territories with access to healthcare and education services, to create for them opportunities for commercial activities as a means for feeding their families and ensuring their physical survival ... I would like to urge Russia against undermining and compromising our peace initiatives, to enable the citizens in the occupied territories to lead a decent life," Bakhtadze said on Thursday.
The prime minister pointed out that Tbilisi wanted to improve relations with Moscow but on the basis of respect for the Georgian sovereignty.
"We want to break the deadlock in Russia-Georgia relations, but that can only be accomplished based on the respect for Georgia's territorial integrity, sovereignty, and the principles of international law," Bakhtadze said.
He also called on Abkhazia and South Ossetia, former Georgian territories that proclaimed their independence from Tbilisi, to stay together with the rest of Georgia.
"Today, from this rostrum, I would like to address our Abkhaz and Ossetian compatriots: Georgia's every success is your success! We share a common historical past, which must pave the way for our future, which I am convinced will bring us peace and prosperity," the prime minister said.
South Ossetia and Abkhazia proclaimed their independence from Georgia back in the 1990s. Russia recognized their independence after the 2008 military conflict when Georgia tried to re-establish control over South Ossetia but was repelled by the Russian troops.
