Agence France-Presse,
MOSCOW: Tensions between Georgia and Russia over Abkhazia flared anew Wednesday, prompting a warning from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev not to provoke his country's troops in the breakaway zone.
The latest flare-up came a day after Georgian officials said they had detained four Russian peacekeepers transporting guided missiles in a western Georgian region just outside the disputed territory.
Russian defence officials denied the accusation and a Georgian interior ministry spokesman, Shota Utiashivili, said late Tuesday that the soldiers would be released because Georgia had no authority over them.
But by late Wednesday, Georgia had returned only the empty vehicle that the soldiers were travelling in when detained near the western Georgian city of Zugdidi, Russian news agencies reported.
In a statement, the Kremlin said that Medvedev spoke by telephone during the day with Georgian counterpart Mikheil Saakashvili.
“Medvedev said provocations against Russian peacekeepers, who are acting under international obligations, are unacceptable,” the Kremlin said.
“Saakashvili promised to sort the situation out,” the statement said, adding that the two leaders agreed on the need to stay in contact “with the aim of resolving existing problems and developing bilateral relations.”
Despite the warning from Medvedev, the Kremlin statement — notably the reference to Moscow and Tbilisi working on their bilateral relations — was softer in tone than similar missives under former president Vladimir Putin.
Tensions surrounding the rebel Abkhazia region have soared since Moscow announced in April that it was establishing formal ties with its separatist government.
In a move denounced by Tbilisi and the West, Russia has also sent hundreds of extra peacekeeping troops into Abkhazia, saying that Georgia was preparing an assault.
Separately, the Russian foreign ministry called Wednesday on Tbilisi to tone down its opposition to the Russian peacekeepers in Abkhazia.
“Tbilisi should radically review its relations with Russian peacekeepers, who have alone for many years ensured peace and order in the area of conflict,” ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko told RIA Novosti news agency.
In another development, a senior official in Abkhazia on Wednesday accused Georgia of resuming spy drone flights near the disputed territory, but Tbilisi immediately denied the claim.
Ruslan Kishmariya, a representative of Abkhaz leader Sergei Bagapsh, told Russia's Interfax news agency that Georgia had resumed spy drone flights last week along the border with Abkhazia.
Utiashvili, the Georgian interior ministry spokesman, denied the flights had resumed.
“In the future we might resume them, it depends on the situation in the conflict zone, but for now the moratorium remains in place,” he told AFP.
