The UN Security Council convened a session to discuss the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict in the wake of Tbilisi's reports March 13 of the artillery and helicopter shelling of three villages in the north of the Kodori Gorge, a territory in Abkhazia controlled by the central Georgian authorities.
"Russia participated actively in the coordination of the resolution and secured in it principal evaluations of the situation in the zone of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict," Vitaly Churkin said.
The resolution also denounced the events of March 13, and the council called on the involved parties to render comprehensive assistance in the investigation of the alleged incidents.
The session also focused on the implementation of Resolution 1716, adopted last October, which urged Georgia to pull out from northern Kodori and ruled that the Russian peacekeeping mission in Abkhazia be extended until April 15.
The UN observer mission in Georgia consists of 142 military servicemen, and has been stationed in the conflict zone since 1993 to observe the ceasefire between Georgia and Abkhazia.
The Western-leaning Georgian authorities are seeking to replace Russian peacekeepers, who have been in Abkhazia since the early 1990s, with an international contingent. Georgia accuses the Kremlin of supporting its breakaway regions. Most Abkhazians hold Russian citizenship.
