Deputy Speaker of the State Duma from the Yabloko faction Vladimir Lukin does not rule out the possible early withdrawal of the Russian peace-making military contingent from Abkhazia.

In an interview with journalists on Tuesday October 16, 2001, he said that if the Georgian authorities “are very insistent, we will have to withdraw our observers.”

Lukin also stressed that judging from the statements made by the Georgian side, it intends to regulate the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict peacefully.

In any case “this is not our business, it is a conflict within Georgia”, added Lukin.

At the same time Lukin warned that if the Russian peacemakers have to leave Abkhazia, the responsibility for the possible consequences of such a decision will fully lie with the Georgian side. Aware of this fact, the Georgian authorities do not rule out the possible replacement of our peacemakers by representatives from the OSCE or the UN, added Lukin.

However, Lukin believes that these organisations “will not intervene and send their observers there.”

The Georgian authorities have to consider this fact and understand that the withdrawal of the Russian peacemakers could have “very negative consequences, especially for Georgia .”

Based on Interfax reports.