De facto Abkhazia ready to support Russia circumvent sanctions

De facto President of Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia region, Aslan Bzhania, said that the breakaway region was ready to help Russia import goods via its territory. 

Russian media outlets cited Bzhania as saying on Wednesday that he was not afraid of imposing sanctions for the move, as the decision would “push for closer ties between Russia and Abkhazia.” 

“Since a big number of states have announced a regime of sanctions against Russia, we certainly think that our territory can be used for parallel imports. We have two ports, we have access to other countries,” said Bzhania.

Russia recognized two Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali as independent states after the Russia-Georgia 2008 war.

Since then only Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru and Syria have joined Russia in the illegal move, while the rest of the international community is unanimous that the regions are occupied.