Political analysts associate Putin's visit to Abkhazia with Pence's arrival in Georgia

The expected meeting of the Russian President with Raul Khadjimba is a response to the visit to Tbilisi of US Vice President Mike Pence, who expressed support for the Georgia's territorial integrity. This opinion has been expressed by Georgian political analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that informed sources from the Russian and Abkhazian sides reported on the Russian President's plans to visit Abkhazia on August 8, on the anniversary of the start of combat actions in South Ossetia. According to the presidential press secretary, the specific date of the visit has not yet been determined. The Georgian authorities have condemned the Vladimir Putin's upcoming visit to Abkhazia and called it the evidence of the Russia's "continuing occupation" of the territory.

According to political analyst Kakha Gogolashvili, the chief of the Institute for Strategic and International Studies, the Vladimir Putin's visit contains a message to the US that is a response to the "assurances" given by the US Vice President in Tbilisi. "Vladimir Putin likes to point out to weak points. Since the United States voiced some assurances to Georgia, then the Russian President wants to demonstrate that the US is not able to fulfil them," Kakha Gogolashvili told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Russia has an "inferiority complex" in relation to the United States, for which it repeats everything after the US, even stupidities, believes Tornike Sharashenidze, an expert at the International Centre for Geopolitical Studies. He has expressed his hope that the Russia's response to the US Vice President's visit to Tbilisi will be limited to the Vladimir Putin's visit to Abkhazia.

Political analyst Khatuna Lagazidze has noted to the "Caucasian Knot" that the information about the Vladimir Putin's visit came after the Mike Pence's visit. According to her, the Vladimir Putin's visit to Abkhazia proves the Russia's desire to "be friends with separatist regimes and not with neighbours."

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.