Renaming the Georgian State Ministry for Conflict Resolution Issues - now the Ministry for Reintegration - has further reduced the chances of a resumption of talks, Abkhaz Foreign Minister Sergey Shamba has said, according to Abkhaz news agency Apsnipress on January 28.

“This is yet another step towards bringing the negotiating process into a final deadlock,” Shamba said. “We will not engage in any talks with this structure or with people representing this new ministry. We will not do that even if Georgia returns to the framework of the Moscow agreement on ceasefire.”

Sokhumi pulled out of talks with Tbilisi after the Georgian central authorities restored full control over the upper Kodori Gorge in breakaway Abkhazia in summer 2006. The Abkhaz side has been insisting since then that Tbilisi is violating the 1994 Moscow agreement by deploying its forces in the upper Kodori Gorge.