PROTOCOL of the Meeting between the Georgian and Abkhaz Sides on the Issue of Stabilization of the Situation in the Zone of Conflict

On 17 January 2002 in the village of Chuburkhinji of the Gali region, a meeting between the Georgian and Abkhazian Sides on the issue of stabilization of the situation in the zone of Conflict took place under chairmanship of Mr. Dieter Boden -the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General and in presence of Major General A Evteev - Chief of the Joint Staff of the CIS PKF. The Georgian Delegation was headed by Mr. M.Kakabadze, the Abkhaz Delegation was headed by Mr. R.Khajimba.

The Parties to the conflict confirmed their commitment to exclusively peaceful means of settlement of the conflict and agreed on the following:

1. Beginning from February 1, 2002 a regular patrolling by the peacekeeping forces and international observers, provided their security guaranteed by the Parties, shall be carried out in the Kodori Valley.

2. In addition to the aforementioned and in conformity with the paragraph 2.4 of the Moscow Agreement, the Georgian Side shall start withdrawal of its troops from the Kodori Valley. The starting date of withdrawal of troops shall be defined by the Parties in the first decade of February 2002 in the course of negotiations.

3. Simultaneously with the starting of the process of withdrawal of the troops, military observers of the UN in association with the Abkhaz Side shall carry out inspection of Tkvarcheli and the lower part of the Kodori Valley to verify the presence or absence of heavy weaponry. In case the identification of heavy weapons in the region, the Abkhaz Side shall withdraw it.

4. The Abkhaz Side commits itself not introduce its military formations on the territory of the Kodori Valley, beginning from the check point #107 of CIS Peace-keeping forces, as well as not use force against the peaceful population of the Kodori Valley, including air bombardment.

5. The Parties call upon the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General to activate endeavors aimed at securing peace and non-resumption of hostilities, as stipulated by the Yalta Statement of the Georgian and Abkhaz Sides adopted on 15-16 March 2001.

From the Georgian Side M. Kakabadze

From the Abkhaz Side R. Khajimba

From the UNOMIG D. Boden

From the CIS PKF A. Evteev

17 January 2002

(Archive of the Staff of the State Minister of Georgia for Conflict Resolution Issues/in Russian)