Monday July 21st 2008Since a brief but vicious war in the early 1990s when it seceded from Georgia, the tiny sub-tropical republic of Abkhazia has lived a precarious existence, shut off from the outside world. Unrecognised by any other state, it is however strongly supported by Russia, to the chagrin of Georgia and its western allies such as the US. This year fears of a new armed conflict rose sharply after Abkhazia shot down several unmanned Georgian spy planes flying over its territory and Russia moved extra troops into the region. Abkhazia’s president, Sergei Bagapsh, 59, talks about the ongoing conflict with Georgia, which wants the republic back under its control.
Sergei Bagapsh was speaking to the Guardian’s Russia-based correspondent Tom Parfitt.
Bagapsh says that he is ready to negotiate with Georgia and its allies. Photograph: Timo Vogt
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