Russian President Putin orders funding to modernise ‘army’ of occupied Abkhazia
De facto President of Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia region Raul Khajimba met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in August 2019, several days before the so-called elections in the region. Photo: AFP.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the government to allocate funds for the “modernisation” of the armed forces of Georgia’s occupied Abkhazia region, Russian media RIA Novosti reports.
The decree has already been released on the Russian internet portal on legal issues.
RIA Novosti reads that earlier Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and “his Abkhaz counterpart” Merab Kishmaria agreed on the development of military-technical cooperation and the modernisation of the ‘Abkhaz army.’
Before signing th enew agreement, Moscow and Sukhumi will hold talks, the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Defense will take part in them,” RIA Novosti says.
The media reports that Moscow already provides large-scale financial assistance for the development of the “republic”.
The volume of the investment programme to support Abkhazia for 2017-2019 amounted to about six billion rubles ($93 million),” the agency reports.
Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions of Georgia have only been recognised as independent states by Russia, Venezuela, Nikaragua, Nauru and Syria since the Russia-Georgia 2008 war.
The rest of the international community is unanimous in that the regions are occupied by Russia and the country must withdraw its troops from Georgian territory.