MP: Georgia ready to talk to new de-facto President of Abkhazia

"We are ready to talk to anyone who holds the position of de-facto leader of Abkhazia,” said Georgian Dream Member of Parliament and Council of Europe representative Tinatin Khidasheli.

At a press conference today, MP Khidasheli, who is also the vice chairperson of the ALDE faction of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, said last weekend’s so-called elections in Georgia’s breakaway region Abkhazia were "illegitimate” and "unconstitutional”.

"However our Government has underlined that … we are ready to talk to anyone who holds the position of de-facto leader of Abkhazia at this moment, because discussion and dialogue has no alternative,” she said.

"But to us he is not a president – a leader that came after elections – but he is the legitimate leader of the population that currently lives there. Therefore he is a party with whom we are ready to have dialogue with in any format – Geneva or otherwise,” Khidasheli noted.

She also said calling anyone a "marionette” was unhelpful and "not an honourable action”.

"So long as the Georgian state lives under the illusion that we have to talk only with Russia and solve this problem only with Moscow, well we will always have this problem,” she said.

"I have never called any of the so-called government of Abkhazia marionettes because even if [the de-facto President of the breakaway region] is the leader of five people, he does not deserve such terms,” the MP said.

"The Georgian state does not have the luxury of choosing with whom to talk to. The Georgian state should talk to the people who have a type of legitimacy that [incoming Abkhaz president] Raul Khajimba has received,” she added.

Occupied Abkhazia held the controversial presidential election on Sunday, which ended in Khajimba gaining victory. Georgia’s two regions Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region – otherwise known as South Ossetia – are currently occupied by Russian forces.