Day: November 1, 2023

In an audio recording leaked on social media on October 31, Grigory Karasin, chairman of the Russian Federation Council’s Foreign Affairs Committee, and Zurab Abashidze, the Georgian Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Russia, discuss the possibility of the resumption of air traffic between Russia and Georgia in March 2022.

The audio has caused an uproar among the Georgian opposition, amid already existing suspicions that, despite the Georgian government’s insistence that the decision to resume flights, in April this year, was taken by Russia unilaterally, covert negotiations had been taking place between Tbilisi and Moscow, at Tbilisi’s initiative, to restore flights, amid Russia’s war in Ukraine and international sanctions imposed on Russia.

In the recording, published by Youtube channel Cyber Kmara, Karasin calls Abashidze to ask for “advice” in the “difficult and multifaceted” situation. “Our transport people say that maybe we should discuss the ideas coming from the Georgian side about the resumption of air traffic, the ideas about road transport and so on,” Karasin can be heard saying, adding that in his opinion at this point “it would be a bit premature to raise and discuss these issues.”

“Perhaps I am wrong?” Karasin asks, to which Abashidze replies, “no, no, you are right, absolutely right.”

Karasin says it would be better to wait a little, until the situation becomes “clearer” and calms down. “Otherwise we would bury these good intentions before they could bear fruit,” Karasin adds. “No, no…we are walking on the edge here,” Abashidze agreed, adding that “we need to wait for the storm to pass.”

Abashidze’s reaction

Zurab Abashidze confirmed to Interpressnews that such a conversation took place between him and Karasin in March 2022, adding that there was nothing “scandalous” in the recording.

“He asked me for my opinion, and I confirmed that it was not convenient to start talking about the restoration of air traffic between the two countries. This is the proof that the principled decision to restore flights with Georgia was made later independently by the Russian side, which is what we have been saying all along. After this conversation, this issue has not been discussed with Grigory Karasin,” Abashidze said.

Also Read:

• 02/10/2023 – Karasin Says President Zurabishvili Suffers from “Political Schizophrenia”
• 29/08/2023 – Karasin: Russia Does Everything Possible so China and India Recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia
• 18/05/2023 – Russian Official: Russia Seeks More Infrastructure Projects and Links with Georgia
• 02/02/2023 – Karasin-Abashidze Audio Recording Sparks Opposition Criticism

On November 1, the deputy head of the Analytical Department of the SSSG, Irakli Antadze, informed the journalists that on October 31, the representatives of the Russian occupation forces had illegally detained another Georgian citizen near the occupied village of Gvirgvina, in the vicinity of Tskhinvali occupation line. According to the SSSG representative, a total of seven people are currently being held by the occupying forces.

“As of today, there are seven illegally detained people, as yesterday evening, at around 22:00, another [case of] illegal detention happened,” – Antadze said. He also noted that the SSSG does not yet know the circumstances and details. “There has been a case of borderization in Kardzmana, also another case happened near the village of Artsevi, Gori municipality, and yet another borderization case took place yesterday in the surrounding area of Ergneti,” the SSSG representative said. 

Today, the 115th meeting of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) is being held in Ergneti.

Also Read:

• 31/10/2023 – Georgian Citizen Illegally Detained by Russian Occupation Forces
• 27/10/2023 – Georgian Citizen Illegally Detained by Russian Occupation Forces Released
• 18/10/2023 – Two Georgian Citizens Illegally Detained by Russian Occupation Forces
• 13/09/2023 – 114th Ergneti IPRM Meeting
• 03/07/2023 – 113th IPRM Meeting Took Place in Ergneti

According to “Nuzhnaya Gazeta”, on November 1, the de-facto legislature of the occupied Abkhazia will hold a special extended meeting of the “Committee on International, Interparliamentary Relations and Relations with Compatriots” to discuss Abkhazia’s possible participation in post-Soviet integration associations, with a special focus on Abkhazia’s readiness to join the Union State of Russia and Belarus.

Russia and Belarus are co-founding members of the Union State, the Customs and Eurasian Economic Union, and have military co-operation within the CSTO (two Russian military facilities are located in Belarus).

Earlier, on October 27, a “government delegation” representing occupied Abkhazia reportedly met in Minsk with Konstantin Burak, Chief of Staff of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus, for “bilateral interagency consultations”.

In 2022, the de-facto leader of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania, expressed the occupied region’s readiness to join the union state of Russia and Belarus. “The idea [of the Union State] is close to us, close to the people of Abkhazia, [and] this is in our national interests,” he emphasized.

Abkhazia’s accession to the Union State of Russia and Belarus “is fully in the fundamental interests of the people of the republic”, the de-facto foreign minister of occupied Abkhazia, Inal Ardzinba, said to the Russian Channel One programme “Big Game” on October 10.

Also Read:

• 11/10/2023 – Ardzinba: Accession to Union State Fully in Fundamental Interests of Abkhazia
• 22/02/2023 – Tbilisi Condemns Aslan Bzhania’s Visit to Belarus
• 03/11/2023 – Delegation of the Russia-Belarus Union visits Occupied Abkhazia
• 29/09/2022 – Outrage at Lukashenka’s Visit to Abkhazia