SUKHUMI, September 30 (RIA Novosti) - The president of Abkhazia, a self-proclaimed independent republic on Georgian territory, said he would not agree to the deployment of U.S. and EU peacekeeping forces in the region.
"The CIS peacekeeping troops were sent to the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict zone in line with the May 14, 1994 agreement on a ceasefire and the disengagement of forces," Sergei Bagapsh said, responding to a proposal by Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili to involve the United States and the European Union in the peacemaking process. "Abkhazia does not plan on making any amendments to the document."
"No other countries can be engaged in the peacekeeping process without our consent," Bagapsh said.
Saakashvili said Wednesday that the U.S. and EU should be part of the settlement efforts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the other self-proclaimed republic in Georgia. "Russia has played a crucial role in the process, but the U.S., which has expressed willingness, must also get involved," the Georgian president said.
Saakashvili said the EU could also play a central role in resolving the conflicts. "Russia is a major player, but Europe must also become more actively involved."
Moldova's Transdnestr region, another self-proclaimed post-Soviet republic, recently agreed to U.S. and EU mediation but only as observers, the republic's foreign ministry said Friday.
The decision regarding Transdnestr was reached during recent talks between the two conflicting sides and mediators (Russia, Ukraine, and the OSCE) held in Odessa, a Ukrainian Black Sea city. The OSCE adopted a document that said observers had no right to participate in decision-making, to sign protocols, to preside over meetings, or to call for meetings.
"We have long been opposed to U.S. involvement, as its role in the Balkans, for example, did not improve, but rather deteriorated, things," Valery Litskai, the foreign minister of Transdnestr, said.
