SUKHUMI, August 2 (RIA Novosti) - Russian peacekeepers have not set up any additional checkpoints in the Kodori Gorge in Georgia's separatist region of Abkhazia, the commander of the Collective Peacekeeping Forces in the area said Wednesday.
Georgian media reported earlier that Russian peacekeeping forces had set up a new checkpoint in the town of Lata in the Korodi Gorge, which is the de facto border between Abkhazia and Georgia.
Gen. Sergei Chaban said: "No additional Russian peacekeeping forces have been deployed in the Kodori Gorge."
Georgian troops entered the Kodori Gorge a week ago to disarm a rebellious militia unit led by Emzar Kvitsiani, a former presidential envoy to Abkhazia. Georgia has maintained that it is a police operation, but Russian peacekeepers stationed in the region reported that Georgia had deployed military units in the area.
The Abkhaz foreign minister said last week that Georgia could be using the report of Kvitsiani's alleged presence in Abkhazia as a pretext for an invasion of the republic.
The bloody conflict between Georgia and Abkhazia erupted following the collapse of the Soviet Union, when the breakaway region declared its independence in 1992. The violence was suspended by a ceasefire agreement that introduced peacekeeping troops from the former Soviet republics, including Russia, in the separatist area.
Georgia's president said last week that Abkhazia's legitimate government would be based in the Kodori Gorge.
"The Kodori Gorge will become the temporary legitimate administrative center of Abkhazia," Mikheil Saakashvili said.
