Russia said on Thursday it was lifting trade restrictions imposed on the Georgian separatist region of Abkhazia, but denied it had been influenced by Western support for Kosovo's independence.
In a statement, Russia's foreign ministry said that "Russia no longer considers itself bound by the terms" of a sanctions accord approved by the ex-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in 1996. The lifting of the largely symbolic sanctions prompted a sharp reaction from Georgia, whose minister for reintegration, Temur Yakobashvili, said the move could ease arms shipments into Abkhazia.
The statement came after Russia fought unsuccessfully to prevent Western recognition of Kosovo's independence from Moscow's ally Serbia. Moscow had warned that it could take any recognition of Kosovo as a precedent in dealing with other separatist struggles. But Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Denisov told Interfax that "this step in no way has any relationship to Kosovo. There is no connection. This step has long been under discussion."
The Russian sanctions were imposed as part of efforts to limit the separatist aspirations of Abkhazia, one of two such breakaway Georgian territories that lie on Russia's southern border, the other being South Ossetia. Both territories fought wars with the rest of Georgia in the early 1990s.
Thursday's statement also accused Georgia of obstructing confidence-building measures that Abkhazia had shown willingness to implement, particularly in the area of refugees. While the Abkhaz side was ready for such measures, "the Georgian side does not demonstrate a similarly constructive approach to fulfilment of previous agreements," the statement said, adding that the situation in Abkhazia had "completely changed." In Abkhazia the separatist administration's foreign minister, Sergei Shamba, welcomed the Russian move and said Kosovo's independence recognition had changed the situation for his territory.