YouSaid · the spoken record

President Shevardnadze

lines on the record: 40
first: 1994-03-09
most recent: 1994-03-09
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“If the Council did not do this, it would be lending those forces fresh strength and building their confidence in their impunity and in their ability to hurl an unanswered challenge at the international community and to ignore its will and its decisions, thus trampling underfoot the fates of countries and peoples. I should like the Council to consider this problem in the context of a broader situation through the prism of the three interrelated factors of peace, development and democracy, which the Secretary-General has termed the fundamental priorities of mankind today.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“This conflict exists in the context of the vast range of disruptions of international security encompassing the Middle East and other regions. By putting an end to this conflict, the Council would significantly weaken the destructive force of that trend. It would send a warning to those who are attempting to subject universal principles of democracy to instincts related to "blood and earth" and to ultranationalism and warmongering. That in turn would teach a concrete lesson to the proponents of the aggressive separatism that threatens to set the world afire in a chain reaction of fragmentation.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“Any delay in deploying United Nations troops in the zone of conflict will have a detrimental effect on the lot of the 300,000 exiles, whose desperate situation could force them into spontaneous actions. I should like the Council to take all those views into account as it reaches a decision. Let me repeat that the conflict we are striving to extinguish cannot be seen as an isolated or local phenomenon. It was ignited at the intersection of the most sensitive arteries of a broad region, arteries through which destructive impulses flow to adjacent countries, destabilizing the situation in southern Russia and transforming the Caucasus, with its other no less serious conflicts, into yet another powder-keg threatening peace.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“A little less than a month ago the Security Council was informed of our joint message, which said in part that "In the course of the Geneva talks held under the auspices of the United Nations with the assistance of Russia, it became obvious that only the deployment of a neutral peace-keeping force in the zone of conflict would be capable of providing the basic measure of external support to the political process that would promote a gradual but steady stabilization of the situation". (S/1994/125, annex) It is a fact that, while claiming to be in favour of a settlement, its opponents are actually thwarting the achievement of an agreement. It is not hard to foresee that they will do everything in their power to prevent the return of refugees and displaced persons.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“An international body would be established under United Nations auspices, with the Russian Federation as facilitator and with the participation of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE); jointly with the international directorate and the Government of the Republic of Georgia, this body would devise and implement a programme for the economic revival of Abkhazia. I inform the Council that I have provided to the Chairman of the group of United Nations experts, Mr. Giorgio Malinverni, a proposal addressed to the Abkhaz side to send representatives to participate in drafting a new constitution for the Republic of Georgia. Members of the Council are aware that my proposals for the use of peace-keeping forces in Abkhazia are endorsed by the President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“Our plan for a comprehensive political settlement in Abkhazia, Republic of Georgia, provides for the holding, under international supervision, of elections leading to the establishment of new organs of power; the establishment, prior to the elections, of an international directorate with the participation of the parties, a representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Russian Federation, the group of "Friends of Georgia", and other States Members of the United Nations; and the establishment of a provisional joint administration for Abkhazia to carry out executive functions, acting under the leadership of the international directorate.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“In our view, therefore, the only way towards a peaceful political settlement is the deployment in the conflict zone, throughout the territory between the Inguri and Psou rivers, of international peace-keeping forces to promote a solution to the following objectives: - a full, phased demilitarization of the conflict zone; - the deployment of international observers and the establishment of appropriate conditions for unimpeded implementation by them of their obligations; - the voluntary, dignified return, without preconditions, of displaced persons and refugees to their homes in Abkhazia; - the return to them of the housing, plots of land and property which were taken from them; - removal from the regions to which the refugees and displaced persons will return of all armed units aside from United Nations armed forces; - cessation of the criminal practice of discrimination by nationality and, even more so, of the continuation of "ethnic cleansing" aimed at changing the demographic situation.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“In connection with the fact that the Gudauta leaders required that they be screened, I should like to remind you of the resolution adopted on 31 January 1994, in accordance with which the Security Council recognized "the right of all refugees and displaced persons affected by the conflict to return, without preconditions, to their homes in secure conditions" (resolution 896 (1994), para. 11). The creation of these secure conditions is problematic in an atmosphere of anarchy, chaos and arbitrariness. It cannot and must not be entrusted to one side, whose capacity to comply with and implement the obligations it has underwritten is, to put it mildly, in doubt.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“Before the start of the third round in Geneva, punitive acts included the razing of several villages in this region and the killing of hundreds of people, and 15,000 more individuals left the land of their ancestors. The second approach is as follows. We have nothing to divide and no reason to divide anything except competences. To us, the most important and major condition for a peaceful settlement is the peaceful return of the refugees and forcibly displaced persons. The continuation of "ethnic cleansing" in the Gali region has demonstrated that Gudauta either does not wish, or is not in a position, to provide them with guarantees of security.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“We would agree with such a solution if it were not for the numerous and very compelling recent testimonies to the effect that, first of all, this would tend to underline the fact of the separation from Georgia of part of its territory and a change in the demographic composition of the population of Abkhazia; secondly, it would transform the Gudauta regime into the total master of the fates of those refugees and displaced persons who are returning. On the basis of their bitter recent experience, they will not return to a place where nothing and no one can guarantee their security, the preservation of their lives and the protection of their civil, personal and property rights. The events of Gali reaffirm this.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“However, the experience of practically every meetingFirstly, in all the proposals of the Abkhaz side, a and an example of this is the third round of the Geneva negetiatmomi is the notion of the separation of the parties to attests to the opposite. One wonders whether we are dealing with a practice the conflict along the Inguri river. The troops would separate them without interfering in the events taking place in the territory under the control of each side.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“A key question for us is their peaceful return to their native lands guaranteed by special measures to ensure their security, rights and interests. Without that, no peace in the region is possible. One is impossible without the other, and overall, all of this is impossible without the deployment in the conflict zone of armed forces of the Organization. As for the political status of Abkhazia, there is a mandate, given on the basis of the Geneva Memorandum of Understanding, within the framework of which one side is acting and the other side does not wish to act. This is not the only closed circle that needs to be opened. There are two opposing models - two concepts, two approaches - to the use of United Nations armed forces in the conflict zone. this matter.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“I would say that the answer is this: only the determination to act in such a way as to deprive the opponents of peace and of a settlement of the opportunity to manipulate a number of very complex issues. To do this, as a minimum, there is a need to untie - to untie, not to chop through - the Gordian knot of a solution; to introduce into the region United Nations peace-keeping forces; and to achieve progress at the negotiations on the political status of Abkhazia. After all, we have on several occasions been convinced that, through the so-called efforts of Gudauta, progress in this direction is becoming unattainable. It is inadmissable to make 300,000 refugees and displaced persons, as well as the very idea of a political settlement, hostages to the lack of goodwill of one of the parties and a group of people.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“It appeared that, having agreed to participate in negotiations under the aegis of the United Nations, the Gudauta leaders agreed to respect at least the parameters sketched out by the Security Council for the conduct of of procrastination, with the desire to create an impasse which once and for all would undermine the possibility of a comprehensive political settlement and, most importantly, exclude the possibility of the return of the refugees. If that is so, and no other conclusion can be reached, then what should be our response to these attempts to use the United Nations as a cover to hide the final dismemberment of the territory of a State Member of the United Nations?”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“They wanted to achieve full secession from Georgia and did not balk at major bloodshed in order to do so. Despite this, we continue to declare with full responsibility that nothing is threatening either the statehood of Abkhazia, the national identity of the Abkhaz people or the interests of the multinational population of Abkhazia as a whole. We are ready to grant even broader rights so long as the territorial integrity of Georgia is preserved. We are putting forward our proposals here on the broad and solid basis of all seven relevant resolutions of the Security Council, without going beyond the framework of the mandate of the United Nations Group of Experts. Nevertheless, the Gudauta regime is virtually wrecking the negotiations on status.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“I assume that not everyone is aware that before the beginning of the armed conflict, Abkhazia enjoyed all the rights of broad political, social, economic and cultural autonomy, which fully ensured the development of the national identity of the Abkhaz people. There was in operation a broad network of Abkhaz schools; an Abkhaz university was opened; newspapers, magazines and books were published in the Abkhaz language; national radio and television broadcasting were established; on the basis of the constitution of Abkhazia, there functioned the highest legislative organ, the Government and the Supreme Court; and the State language, along with Georgian and Russian, was the Abkhaz language. Negotiations were conducted on a further expansion of the competence of Abkhazia's organs of power. But this was not enough for the separatists.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“I have already spoken many times and am ready again to repeat to the entire world that there are no problems here for us, that this matter can be resolved taking into account and using the most progressive universal and European standards. That advantage will also be available to the entire multinational people of Abkhazia - Georgians, Abkhaz, Armenians, Russians, Ukrainians, Greeks and Jews. But obviously it would be unjust to resolve the question of status before the return of the refugees and displaced persons - Georgians, Abkhaz, Armenians, Russians, Ukrainians, Greeks and Jews - refugees who account for two thirds of the multinational people of Abkhazia.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“On 3 February - the day of the signing of the Georgian-Russian treaty - there began a large-scale, 10-day punitive action against the peaceful inhabitants of the region. Despite the request that was made, representatives of the United Nations Observer Mission were not allowed to go to the site of these bloody events, but were allowed in only after the conclusion of this so-called operation. The Gali tragedy is an answer to Security Council resolution 896 (1994), which condemns any attempts to change the demographic composition of Abkhazia, Republic of Georgia. Let us now take up the question of political status. I think this question is particularly important.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“I would not begin here to dwell on these well-known events if the traditional policy and behaviour of the leaders of Gudauta had been aimed at constructive action and if it were not for their customary practice of wrecking agreements and undermining negotiations already under way within the framework of the Geneva process, begun under the aegis of the United Nations. The decision concerning the start of the return of the refugees to the Gali region has not been implemented. Moreover, prior to the third round of negotiations in Geneva on a comprehensive settlement of the conflict in Abkhazia, Republic of Georgia, there was a new wave of "ethnic cleansing" and genocide in parts of this region where Georgians still remained.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“Those citizens who had left Sukhumi and other population centres believed in the possibility of a peaceful settlement and returned home. Moreover, the Georgian side, in accordance with the Agreement, had withdrawn all heavy equipment and personnel from the territory under its control. The sudden attack by the Abkhaz side on unarmed population centres on 16 September doomed the peaceful population to an existence as prisoners under an evil will and crude violence. Thousands died under the shelling and missiles, and thousands more on the roads to exile. Thousands were deprived of their homes, homeland, property and breadwinners, and received in return the bitter lot of refugees and displaced persons.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“We were not banking on a military solution to the problem. To avoid bloodshed, we sat down at the negotiating table, to which the people who had unleashed this war - in fact, rebels - were also invited. Taking advantage of the protection and patronage of powerful forces and the support, military and otherwise, and direct participation of those forces in the conflict, they began to dictate conditions whose legal viability was not even called into question. It is hard to speak about legality and law with those who violate them, but we engaged in dialogue and concluded agreements simply in order to halt the war and the bloodshed. As is well known, all of these agreements were treacherously violated, and particularly severe consequences resulted from the violation of the Agreement of 27 July 1993.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“Driven from the borders of Abkhazia by "ethnic cleansing", violence, coercion and an unprecedented mass trampling underfoot of human rights, the Georgian population has lost neither the right to live in the land of its ancestors nor the right to the guaranteed protection of its legitimate interests. Thirdly, our will for peace has been reaffirmed by three cease-fire agreements and the adoption of appropriate measures required for their implementation. I recall here the first agreement, which the President of the Russian Federation and I signed less than a month after the outbreak of the armed conflict, on 3 September 1992, when we controlled the greater part of the territory, including Sukhumi and Gagra, the region bordering Russia and the border on the River Psou. Neither then nor later did we deal in categories of war or victory.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“Consequently, the results of the vote on any question were predetermined in favour of the minority and the rights of the majority were infringed upon. Secondly, neither before nor after the beginning of the conflict did we ever call into question the issue of Abkhaz statehood, and we are not calling that issue into question now. However, we can speak of statehood within the binding and solid framework of the principles of the United Nations and the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), taking into account the interests of the multinational population of Abkhazia, including the Georgian sector, which accounts for nearly half of its total population.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“With the example of the conflict in Abkhazia, we have realized how broad are the links and coordinating actions of that "red and brown International", which brings together the former centre and the outlying regions to form a united front struggling against independence and democracy. The object is the restoration of totalitarian regimes, only now under the flags of ultranationalism and chauvinism. This was the case in Abkhazia as well, where, long before the outbreak of the conflict an effort was made to establish an ethnic dictatorship of the minority; under a discriminatory electoral law 18 per cent of the population received the right to send to the Parliament of the Autonomous Republic more representatives than all the rest of the population.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“Born in the depths of the communist system, it seeks and finds an outlet through the efforts of certain groups and clans, and for political purposes makes use of the natural national feelings of masses that have been oppressed under ideological pressure. I must recognize, painful as it is, that through the efforts of the regime that came to power after Georgia gained its independence, fascism also made itself felt in my country as a whole. I have described it clearly as provincial fascism, for only by having diagnosed the illness can one do battle with it, and we have done battle with it. Our people understood what kind of threat to itself, to its foundations, to its way of life and to its traditional ethnic and religious tolerance it was dealing with. This threat is not limited to the borders of one country.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“Taking advantage of the unprecedented external support of the most extremist reactionary forces, the Gudauta clique unleashed "ethnic cleansing" and genocide, and in the wide-ranging swath it cut it did not distinguish people by their origin. Frequently the Abkhazis killed other Abkhazis because they did not share the assumptions of the regime. Numerous surveys of the refugees and forcibly displaced persons show a high degree of mutual ethnic tolerance between Georgians and Abkhazis, which once again supports our thesis: that this conflict does not have ethnic or national roots. It has other roots, fed by outrageous nationalism growing into a phenomenon that I can describe only as fascism. This is an unusual fascism, a fascism of the post-communist era.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“Shootings, torture, retaliation beyond the bounds of the law, insults, beatings and imprisonment were inflicted on State officials, deputies, journalists, writers, scholars, doctors, workers and landowners, without any distinction as to nationality, but on the basis of one factor alone: whose side the person was on. Violence breeds violence and cruelty to cruelty. No matter how hard it is to speak of this, justice requires us to say that murders, the burning down of houses, looting and plundering are also on the conscience of parties to the conflict on the Georgian side. I shall not call these "excesses", as is done in Gudauta, but in calling things by their names I wish to emphasize that both the Georgians and the Abhazis are our fellow citizens, and we do not divide them into our own and others.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“I should also like to recall that Security Council resolution 876 (1993) of 19 October 1993 reiterated the Council's firm condemnation of the violation by the Abkhaz side of the Cease-fire Agreement of 27 July 1993 and subsequent actions in violation of international humanitarian law, and also condemned the killing of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia. I wish to say a few words about that event. In the hour of martyrdom of that outstanding individual, Mr. Jiuly Shartava, he was accompanied not only by Georgians but also by Abkhazians, Russians and Armenians, nearly all of whom shared the fate of their leader and friend. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated fact.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“The conflict arose within an autonomous republic, around issues of property, power and its implementation, the adoption of laws and a State system and the choice of orientation. It was then fuelled from outside by weapons, finances, personnel, information and propaganda, and was used by political groups and clans for their own selfish political and other objectives, in order to achieve political and material benefits both within the Republic and beyond its borders. The parties to the conflict are not monoethnic. The 1 July 1993 report of the Secretary-General on the situation in Abkhazia, Republic of Georgia, speaks of his continuing efforts to launch a peace process, "involving the Government of Georgia, and - this is very important - "the two parties in Abkhazia and the Russian Federation." (S/26023, para. 19).”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“Aside from the matter of our joint history, there is also the matter of our joint responsibility to the present and future of our peoples. Let us focus our attention on that and only on that. This is the task I am undertaking here, and within that framework I intend to state my vision of how to solve the problem and our suggestions for doing so. But before doing that, allow me to express a few other general views. First of all, the conflict in Abkhazia is not an inter-ethnic conflict, a conflict between Georgians and the Abkhaz people. This ethno- nationalistic tinge has been deliberately given to it in order to camouflage the political objectives of its instigators.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“However, I cannot fail to express my inability to accept an attitude towards history such that those concerned, not satisfied with assigning it a role as the dirty handmaiden of politics, even arm it with the tools of murder. Genuine history, which has not been adapted to the needs of fratricidal wars, has seen that Georgians and Abkhazis have lived on this land since time immemorial in peace and agreement, mutually linked by spiritual and family ties. While there are historians who wish to try to dispute that fact on the battlefield, there is also the testimony of ancient authors and ancient Georgian chronicles, as well as major works of research by eminent scholars of our time whose conclusions are indisputable: Abkhazia is just as much an integral part of the Georgian land as Georgia's other historical lands.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“Discussion of those issues is not part of my task, and raising them only leads us away from our subject. All too often, politicians and the public engage in polemics as to who was the first to come to this land, in order then - on the rickety basis of an arbitrary interpretation and distortion of history - to try to find grounds for the thesis that Abkhazia is not part of Georgia. I shall not begin to respond to the dubious assertion that allegedly there are no historical or legal bases for considering Abkhazia as an integral part of Georgia, or to references to so-called links between Georgia and autonomous Abkhazia that were lost after the collapse of the former Soviet Union.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“In such circumstances, protection of surface links and neutralization of the bandit groups became a matter involving the defence of the country's sovereignty. What was unusual and illegal in the fact that, having informed the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Abkhazia of its intentions, the Government of Georgia sent military sub- units there? In my opinion, nothing. After all, the authorities have the right to take any necessary measures that are within the boundaries of their jurisdiction and competence. However, the units redeployed in Abkhazia were met there with fire, and it was immediately declared that Georgia had committed an act of aggression against Abkhazia and had occupied part of its territory. Is it possible to occupy one's own territory? I shall not begin to engage in polemics on that question.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“Mass plundering of goods, which belonged not only to Georgia but also to Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia, led to losses worth billions of roubles. The primary bases of such sabotage and terrorist groups were located in Abkhazia. After carrying out acts of sabotage in the adjacent regions, these bandit groups then retreated to the territory of Abkhazia, counting on the fact that because of the complex political situation the Government there would not take action against them. There, too, people were held under guard or imprisoned by the bandits, among them members of the Government - for example, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of Internal Affairs, his deputies, my assistant for national security and others.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“The scale of their action is such that I wish to say, honestly and frankly, that we are forced to accept the challenge and also act with rather major forces. Recently in a great number of regions of Georgia subdivisions of internal troops and the police, supported by heavy equipment, have carried out major operations against armed bands; they have disarmed them, eliminated their bases and arrested the ringleaders. This was the situation that existed prior to August 1992 in Abkhazia and the adjacent regions of western Georgia. The railroad line linking Georgia and Armenia with Russia, virtually the only one and therefore vitally important, was almost daily subject to acts of sabotage. Rails, bridges, electrical power stations and communications lines were destroyed.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“The reports of the Secretary- General to the Security Council, the many expert analyses, and the reports of the United Nations representatives in Georgia provide a sufficiently broad and accurate picture of events. But, in the interest of that truth which unfortunately is often distorted, I should like to say the following. In our country we have to deal with a plethora of misfortunes on a whole series of fronts. One of the most difficult and most important of those fronts is the war on crime. This is an inheritance of that universal crisis spawned by the policy of a regime - a subject to which I shall return. Powerful armed bands are terrorizing the population, are in fact establishing their power over extensive regions of the Republic.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“The decision taken by the Council can serve as a basis of a fundamental model for the comprehensive political settlement of other armed conflicts, taking into account the extremely complex situation in the enormous territory of the former Soviet Union. It will without any doubt whatsoever give an impetus to the successful implementation of United Nations peace-keeping functions and peace-keeping operations in all these explosive regions. This opportunity must not be lost. The Security Council's enormous competence and its thorough knowledge of the essence of the present issue make it unnecessary for me to engage in a detailed recounting of the history of the conflict in Abkhazia or to speak in detail of its roots and reasons, its status and the nature of its development.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“The implementation of those decisions, through the efforts of our community, brought peace to regions of dangerous conflict. I understand, however, that since that time the world situation has changed fundamentally and the Security Council now has to act in circumstances and conditions for which there is no analogy in international practice. I therefore place my hopes in the Security Council's readiness to work out and implement fundamentally new approaches to the settlement of the multitude of conflict situations and explosions that present a threat to international peace and security. In that sense, we regard today's meeting as a historic opportunity - and not only for Georgia.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“In speaking here, I am placing great hopes in the Council's wisdom, in its desire and determination to help my country and its people to achieve clear and vital prospects for the future. Today they do not have such prospects and they cannot have them in the near or far future without a just solution to the question of the peaceful return to their native land of those who have been driven away, without the establishment of reliable and clear guarantees of their security, without a dignified and mutually acceptable solution to the question of the political status of Abkhazia, within the framework of an integral Georgian state. I have even greater hopes when I look around this Chamber, where in the recent past I had the opportunity of participating in the taking of decisions.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source
“President Shevardnadze (Georgia) (interpretation from Russian): I wish to thank you, Mr. President, and the other members of the Security Council for giving me this opportunity to speak here. Please accept the gratitude of the people of Georgia for the Council's efforts to restore peace in Abkhazia, to restore justice, to restore the territorial integrity of Georgia. All the Security Council's resolutions and all the steps taken by the Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, and by his Special Envoy, Mr. Edouard Brunner, with the facilitation of the Russian Federation and the active participation of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) and of the informal group known as the "Friends of Georgia", clearly serve the purpose of achieving these noble goals.”
1994-03-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3346 (1994) · source