NATO criticises Putin visit to breakaway Georgian region

NATO has rebuked Russian President Vladimir Putin for visiting the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia on the ninth anniversary of the 2008 Russia-Georgia war.

Putin travelled to the occupied Abkhazia region - in violation of the Georgian state border - to meet with de-facto Abkhazian leader Raul Khajimba yesterday. NATO spokesman denounced the Russian leader’s move in his interview with Politico Europe, a Brussels-based European affairs weekly newspaper.

I told @POLITICOEurope@herszenhorn: #NATO supports the "territorial integrity of #Georgia within its internationally-recognized borders" https://t.co/o1Peks81rs

— Dylan P. White (@dylanpwhite) August 8, 2017

"President Putin’s visit to the Abkhazia region of Georgia — on the ninth anniversary of the armed conflict — is detrimental to international efforts to find a peaceful and negotiated settlement”, the spokesman, Dylan White, said.

"We regret that this visit was carried out without the prior consent of the Georgian authorities”, he added.

He also confirmed NATO’s support for Georgia’s territorial integrity.

"NATO is united in full support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally-recognised borders”, White said.

"We will not recognise any attempts to change the status of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as regions of Georgia”.

• Putin’s action has been denounced by Tbilisi too. Read the Georgian’s Foreign Ministry’s statement here.