ROME, July 26 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is closely monitoring the situation in the Kodori Gorge and has cautioned Georgia against violating agreements covering the area, the foreign minister said Wednesday.

Georgian authorities said earlier they had launched a police operation in the Kodori Gorge, its de facto border with the breakaway region of Abkhazia, to disarm a militia led by Emzar Kvitsiani, a former presidential envoy to the area.

"We are closely watching the development of the situation and we have warned our Georgian colleagues that [any] violation of agreements is unacceptable," Sergei Lavrov said. "I hope that they will heed our call."

He was speaking to journalists after a conference on the Middle East conflict in Rome.