President Vladimir Putin has pledged Russia's continued support for the separatist government of Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia.
The Kremlin press service said Putin's assurances to support the breakaway region's de facto government were expressed in a telegram to Abkhazia's separatist leader, Raul Khajimba, on September 30, a day on which the region commemorates its independence.
"Russia will continue to provide assistance to Abkhazia to support its national security, as well as to solve topical challenges in social and economic development," the telegram was quoted as saying by the Kremlin.
On September 23, Putin ordered the Russian government to sign an agreement with Abkhazia on financial allocations to support the modernization of Abkhazia's de facto armed forces.
Russia-backed separatist Abkhazia declared independence from Georgia in the early 1990s amid a conflict with Georgian government forces.
After the five-day Georgia-Russia war in August 2008, Moscow recognized the independence of Abkhazia, and another breakaway Georgian region, South Ossetia.
Georgia and the overwhelming majority of the international community consider both regions to be territories that are occupied by Russia.
Putin Pledges Continued Support For Separatist Government Of Georgia's Breakaway Abkhazia
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