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Georgia Can Recover Abkhazia Only By Offering Better Economy - Zlobin

MOSCOW. Feb 21 (Interfax) - The Georgian-Abkhaz conflict can be resolved only economically, said Nikolai Zlobin, the director of Russian and Asian programs at the U.S. Center for Defense Information.

"This issue cannot be solved using political methods. It cannot be solved militarily. It can only be solved using economic methods," Zlobin said at a Wednesday conference in Moscow.

He explained that "if Georgia cannot offer to Abkhaz people more than Russia, then Russia will not be able to prevent the Abkhaz from going to Georgia."

Abkhazia is currently gravitating toward Russia only because Russia can offer its people better economic conditions, "better medical service, better wages, a better life."

"I think that Abkhazia will not go back to Georgia. It is unrealistic already. I think that in these 15 years that have passed (since the conclusion of the hot phase of the conflict) the situation changed radically. A different people lives there," Zlobin said.

He noted that when he was in Georgia he was surprised that Georgia was investing nothing in Abkhazia. "I do not understand how they are going to lure Abkhazia when they do not invest in anything in Abkhazia," Zlobin said.

The "return of Abkhazia to Georgia is not a solution to the conflict. This is not solving the conflict. This is creating a new conflict. This is laying a time bomb," Zlobin warned.