TBILISI, July 17 (RIA Novosti) - Georgia and Abkhazia have put off further contacts within a joint coordination council set up to break a long-standing impasse over the status of the self-proclaimed republic, Georgia's state minister for conflict resolution issues said Monday.

Abkhazia, a region in the northwest of Georgia, declared independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, which led to a bloody conflict in the Caucasus. Moscow cultivates close ties with the region, and has granted Russian citizenship to many of its residents. Russia also has peacekeepers stationed in the region.

Working parties of the joint coordinating council were to have met July 19.

During a war in 1992-93, more than 300,000 people, including 240,000 ethnic Georgians, fled Abkhazia. Tbilisi says about 40,000 people have since returned, but Abkhazian officials put the number at 60,000.