PITSUNDA, August 8. /TASS/. Russia is determined to firmly guarantee the security and independence of Abkhazia, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.
"There is a great deal for us to discuss. What is most important is we have a special relationship of trust with Abkhazia. We firmly guarantee the security and independence of Abkhazia. I am certain that it will be so further on," Putin said at a meeting with Abkhazia’s President Raul Khajimba on Tuesday.
He pointed to the need for identifying only the optimal ways of developing Abkhazia’s economy for creating jobs and its own tax base. "That’s what we are going to discuss today," Putin said.
Upon completion of the talks an agreement would be signed that would open Russia’s system of medical insurance and Russian hospitals to Abkhazian citizens.
For his part Khajimba said that Abkhazia with Russia’s support was moving on along the road of social economic development and building infrastructures and addressing security and defense issues.
"All questions we discussed at the previous meetings are being resolved to the benefit of our people," Khajimba said, adding that there had been steady progress in translating into reality the treaty of alliance and strategic partnership between Abkhazia and Russia.
Khajimba pointed to pro-active cooperation between the two countries’ foreign ministries.
"Work on the program’s investment programs is proceeding as expected. This year’s spending on them will reach about 2.5 billion rubles ($42 million). All budget documents had been drafted, scrutinized and approved," Khajimba said.
He is certain that the discussions due would produce solutions serving the interests of Abkhazia’s further development.
"Abkhazia and its people are sincerely grateful to you for the decisions being made to develop our relations. I would like to say once again that the questions to be raised and resolved today would make our relations stronger," Khajimba said.
He recalled that August 8 was a memorable date for Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
"On that day the Georgian army mounted a large-scale attack and the resolute measures the Russian leadership took in response allowed South Ossetia to survive and paved the way for the further recognition of our tiny states," Khajimba said.