Georgia started what it termed an "anticrime" operation in the region last week to find and disarm a rebellious militia unit led by Emzar Kvitsiani, a former Georgian presidential envoy to Abkhazia.
The Abkhazian authorities claimed that Georgia had deployed over 2,000 soldiers, two light armored prime movers, two Mi-8 helicopters, four Mi-24 helicopters and possibly one U.S.-made Iroquois (UH-1 Huey) helicopter in the upper part of the Kodori Gorge with plans for a future invasion of the republic.
"We rule out the possibility that this territory [the Kodori Gorge] could be used as a staging area for a future attack on Abkhazian positions and that Georgia would invade the territory, which is de facto controlled by Abkhazian authorities," Irakli Chubinishvili said.
He said the operation in the Kodori Gorge had almost been completed and Georgia had started relief works in the area.
"Special forces units have been withdrawn from the Kodori Gorge," the diplomat said. "Only a police contingent will remain in the area to maintain law and order and to weed out the remaining bandits."
The ambassador also ruled out the possibility of Abkhazia or South Ossetia, another breakaway republic in Georgia, becoming part of Russia.
"Knowing Russia's official position [on the issue], I do not think South Ossetia or Abkhazia joining Russia is a real possibility, I mean it is absolutely unrealistic," Chubinishvili said.
Russia has consistently said that it respects Georgia's territorial integrity. But the president of South Ossetia said in July that the breakaway Georgian region would ask Russia's Constitutional Court to let the region join Russia and added that he would present historical documents to support the claim.
Eduard Kokoity first raised the issue in March, when he said South Ossetia was historically a part of Russia.
South Ossetia and Abkhazia declared independence from Georgia following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, which provoked bloody conflicts in the region. Russia mediated ceasefire agreements between the sides and Russian peacekeepers have been deployed in the conflict zones ever since.
Georgia, which is seeking to bring the regions back under its control, has accused Russia of siding with separatists and stalling the peace process.
The ambassador said that restoration of Georgia's territorial integrity was the main stumbling bloc in the Georgian-Russian relations and said he was certain the relations would improve after the conflicts with two breakaway regions were resolved.
