Tbilisi: Lavrov’s visit to occupied Abkhazia is gross violation of law

The Georgian Foreign Ministry says that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s so-called working visit to Georgia’s breakaway Abkhazia region violates the fundamental principles of the international law.

Moscow announced that Lavrov will visit occupied Abkhazia on April 18-19, where he will meet with de-facto leaders of the breakaway region and will also attend the official ceremony of the opening of a Russian "embassy” in Abkhazia.

The Georgian Foreign Ministry said in a statement this morning that Lavrov’s arrival in Abkhazia, by neglecting the Georgian state border, and opening an illegal diplomatic representation of Russia in the occupied region of Georgia will be a gross violation of Georgia’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and the fundamental principles of the international law.

"This represents a continuation of Moscow’s provocative policy against the state of Georgia, which aims to legitimise the violent change of borders of the sovereign state though ethnic cleansing and military occupation”, the Georgian Foreign Ministry said.

Tbilisi calls on Russia to stop its "provocative actions”, and show respect for the territorial integrity of the sovereign state.