Stability rests on deciding Abkhazia, South Ossetia status - Lavrov

The discussion about the security problem in the Caucasus is impossible without considering the status of the self-proclaimed republics, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

At a news briefing in Moscow on Wednesday, he said: "The phrase about the need to internationalize the discussion about ways to ensure South Ossetia's and Abkhazia's stable security means that these issues cannot be resolved out of the status context.

“All these issues need to be considered taking into account the objectively existing reality and the administrative system existing in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.”

He added: “There is a principle that very clearly reflects the need for a new approach to security issues.”

But Lavrov said the final version of a plan to settle the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict, which was proposed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, does not directly mention their future status.