Geneva process and new Abkhazian FM

The new Abkhazian foreign minister, Sergey Shamba, considers the main task of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be preventing war. He views the Geneva process as irreplaceable, as it allows for communication with various countries, including Georgia.

His predecessor, Inal Ardzinba, on the other hand, advocated for moving the negotiations from Geneva to Minsk, effectively curtailing Abkhazia’s contacts with various international organizations.

Now, the focus has shifted, and there is reason to expect a more active role for Abkhazia in engaging not only with Moscow but also with other mediators in the Georgian-Abkhazian negotiation process.

“To say that there are no results from the Geneva discussions is incorrect. The fact that we are talking is already a result. When diplomats talk, the guns are silent.

In the 30 years since the war, we have achieved significant results, and quick solutions in diplomacy are rare. One of the issues we raise in Geneva, and hope to eventually achieve, is the prevention of a new war,” Sergey Shamba said in an interview with the Russian agency Sputnik Abkhazia.

He noted that preventing the outbreak of a new war is particularly challenging, as it must be done in a region currently experiencing numerous upheavals:

“This includes what’s happening in Ukraine, the Middle East, and the Black Sea, which has recently become an arena of confrontation. There are more and more NATO reconnaissance aircraft appearing in its waters. This tension is a serious concern for us.

Therefore, there are many threats facing us, and the tasks for Abkhazian diplomacy today are no fewer than they were before. This is what we will focus on.”

Shamba is clearly trying to normalize the atmosphere for a more productive negotiation process. For example, he told another Russian agency, RIA Novosti, that “no Russian naval base is planned in Ochamchira,” only a “border post with border patrol boats.” This contradicts previous statements by Abkhazian president Aslan Bzhania, who regularly claimed that a Russian naval base would be established in Ochamchira.

Geneva process and new Abkhazian FM