Russia warns of violence if Georgia stops Abkhazia-bound ships in Black Sea

October 8th, 2009 Ukraine holds naval exercises in CrimeaKIEV, Ukraine — Ukraine sent hundreds of troops, five ships and 15 aircraft into the Black Sea region Thursday for day-long military drills off its Crimean peninsula, a potential flashpoint with Russia. The exercises commenced just as a Russian state news agency said Russian drills in the same body of water were coming to a close.

October 1st, 2009 MOSCOW - Russia's military Thursday warned of an increasing militarisation of its southern neighbour Georgia, in a warning coming a day after a European Union report blamed both countries for the brief but bitter war in the summer of 2008. Deputy chief of general staff Anatoly Nogovizin said that since the war, Georgia had boosted its military forces by 4,000 to a current level of 36,000.

September 30th, 2009 EU steps up Georgia patrols before war reportMOSCOW — On the eve of a European Union report on who started the Russia-Georgia war, EU monitors have stepped up their patrols in Georgia to try to keep tensions from boiling over into violence, an official said Tuesday. The August 2008 war ended with Russian soldiers driving Georgian forces out of the separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

September 20th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russia intends to significantly upgrade marine patrols off the coast of Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia, the Russian news agency Interfax reported Sunday. The dispute over the status of Abkhazia and the other breakaway republic of South Ossetia led to war last summer between Russia and Georgia.

September 15th, 2009 Russia to detain Georgian ships off AbkhaziaMOSCOW — Russia heightened tensions with Georgia Tuesday by warning that it will detain Georgian ships entering the territorial waters of Abkhazia, a breakaway province allied with Moscow, news agencies reported. Russia recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent nations after a brief war with Georgia last year and has posted thousands of troops in both regions.

September 15th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russia signed Tuesday agreements on military cooperation with the former Georgian republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, a Russian defence ministry spokesman said. Russia recognised the two republics shortly after the end of last August's war with Georgia over South Ossetia, which began when Georgian forces attacked the region in an attempt to bring it back under central control.

August 21st, 2009 US training could target RussiaTBILISI, Georgia — Georgia's defense minister said Friday that training the U.S. military is giving to the country's soldiers headed to Afghanistan involve skills that could be used in any new outbreak of fighting between Georgia and Russia.

August 12th, 2009 Putin pledges economic, military aid to AbkhaziaSUKHUMI, Georgia — Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited the separatist Georgian region of Abkhazia on Wednesday, vowing to provide billions in economic and military aid and shrugging off Georgian protests. Putin's visit came on the anniversary of the cease-fire in last year's war with Georgia, during which Russian troops and separatist forces ousted Georgian forces from the territory of Abkhazia and another breakaway Georgian province, South Ossetia.

August 12th, 2009 Putin pedges massive military spending in AbkhaziaMOSCOW — Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says the country will spend at least 15 billion rubles ($470 million) next year to build Russian military bases in Abkhazia and tighten the separatist Georgian region's borders. Putin's pledge in an interview with Abkhazian media comes on Wednesday's anniversary of the cease-fire in last year's war with Georgia in which Abkhazia and South Ossetia broke from Georgian control.

July 27th, 2009 BRUSSELS - Unarmed European Union (EU) ceasefire monitors will stay in Georgia until at least September 2010 in a bid to keep the peace between the country, its breakaway regions and Russia, EU foreign ministers agreed Monday. The 27-member bloc "has decided to extend the mandate of the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM) for another 12 months until Sep 14, 2010," read a joint statement approved at a meeting of EU foreign ministers here Monday.

July 21st, 2009 Georgia seeking US monitors on conflict linesTBILISI, Georgia — Georgia urged the United States on Tuesday to help monitor the boundaries with its two Russian-supported breakaway regions, and a U.S. official said it was a possibility.

June 30th, 2009 Western observers pulling out of AbkhaziaTBILISI, Georgia — Western observers pulled out of Georgia on Tuesday after Russia blocked an extension of the mission to observe the cease-fire that ended last year's war. The pullout of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe mission came as tensions between Georgia and Russia remain high.

March 7th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russia will have 3,800 troops deployed in Abkhazia for the next 49 years, Sergei Bagapsh, the president of the breakaway republic of Georgia, said Friday. Russia recognised Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states Aug 26, 2008, two weeks after the end of a five-day war with Georgia.

February 13th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russia Saturday welcomed the UN Security Council's resolution on extending a mandate of a UN observer mission in Georgia and Abkhazia, saying it would help ensure stability in the region. The UN Security Council Friday unanimously passed Resolution 1866 to extend by another four months a mandate for its observer mission in Georgia and its former region of Abkhazia, which is recognised as an independent state by Russia.

January 22nd, 2009 MOSCOW - The Russian foreign ministry Friday said Georgia's expanding military presence on the borders of Abkhazia and South Ossetia continued to be a matter for grave concern. It said the Georgian military and the police presence called for 'special attention on the part of the UN and other international organisations operating in the region'.