27 Russian jets sent to Abkhazia

[David]

AP


TBILISI, Georgia – Georgia's foreign minister accused Russia on Friday of sending more than two dozen fighter jets to a base in the breakaway region of Abkhazia.

An Abkhaz defense official denied the claim, but indicated Russia jets could be based there in the future.

Moscow recognized Abkhazia as an independent nation following the war between Georgia and Russia last summer.

Georgian Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze said 27 jets are now at the former Soviet airfield at Gudauta, which he said was a flagrant violation of a 1999 treaty on conventional forces in Europe. Speaking to journalists in parliament, he said the deployment was clearly aimed against Georgia.

But Garry Kupalba, deputy defense minister of Abkhazia, said there were no Russian jets at the Gudauta air base. He said the base has not been used since 1993.

The Abkhaz leadership was in discussions with Moscow about military cooperation, he said. "If a decision is made to establish an air base, we will announce it officially," Kupalba said in Sukhumi, the Abkhaz capital.

Russian officials could not be reached for comment Friday evening. Russia announced in 2007 it was suspending observance of the conventional forces treaty in protest of some NATO countries' policies toward the new version.

Russia has announced plans to start building a naval base in Abkhazia on the Black Sea — a plan that prompted alarm in Europe and the United States.