Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 4 / Trend /
Russia must refrain from establishing a military base in Abkhazia and agree to prolong the OSCE mandate in the region, Deputy Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Matthew Bryza said in an interview with Reuters.
"Russia undertook a commitment to reduce its troops to the pre-war level, but Moscow is violating these obligations. Deploying a naval base will be another violation," Bryza said.
Moscow and Sukhumi reached an agreement on principles to establish a base in Abkhazia for the Russian Black Sea Fleet, BBC Russia reported.
Russia may form a base at the Ochamchir Port in 2009, Abkhazian President Sergey Bagapsh said on Feb. 2.
Bryza said Russia must not impede the prolongation of the UN regional mandate by Feb. 15.
"We offered a compromise, but Russia rejected our proposal. We hope it will not reject a compromise on the UN mandate," Bryza said.
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