Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 2 / Trend E.Tariverdiyeva /
The new Georgian government will soon take steps to resolve the conflict in Abkhazia and in the first step is to restore the rail link between Russia and Georgia, the new Georgian State Minister for Reintegration Zakareishvili said in an interview to Kommersant newspaper.
"I believe that we have to contribute to the restoration of both railway and highway transportation through Abkhazia. We must avoid any political overtones and consider the issue solely from an economic point of view," the minister said.
According to him, the Georgian government has consistently linked the issue of the railway with the return of Georgian refugees to Abkhazia.
"Georgia has achieved nothing with any refugees returned. If we once agreed to the restoration of the railway, I'm sure in a few years many refugees would return to Abkhazia by this way and no one could stop them, despite the absence of formal arrangements in this regard or any political matching," Zakareishvili said.
Military action was launched in the Georgian territory of South Ossetia on Aug.8 in 2008. Later the Russian troops occupied the city of Tskhinvali and drove the Georgian military back. Russia recognised the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in late August. In response, Tbilisi broke off diplomatic relations with Moscow and announced the two unrecognised republics as occupied territories.