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#34 - JRL 2007-65 - JRL Home
Russia should recognize Abkhazia before Georgia joins NATO - Abkhaz official

MOSCOW. March 17 (Interfax) - Russia should be more determined in recognizing Abkhazia as an independent state before the South Caucasus nations joined NATO, Abkhaz Foreign Minister Sergei Shamba said.

"Georgia's accession to NATO would considerably change the picture in the entire South Caucasus, and Russia's influence in the region would be dramatically undermined," Shamba told Interfax on Saturday.

Azerbaijan will follow Georgia in joining NATO, and "after that, Armenia will also have to join NATO," Shamba said. "In this sense, Russia should be quicker today in setting its mind to recognize Abkhazia, which could become the only buffer state in the region between Russia and NATO," he said.