President Putin signs law ratifying Russian-Abkhaz strategic partnership agreement

MOSCOW, February 4. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed on Wednesday a law ratifying a treaty on allied relations and strategic partnership between Russia and Abkhazia. "The agreement sets the basis for intergovernmental relations between Russia and the Republic of Abkhazia in the social, economic and humanitarian spheres, as well as regarding the issues of defense and security," according to the accompanying documents to the agreement. Putin and Abkhazian President Raul Khadzhimba signed the treaty in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi on November 24, 2014. The treaty was ratified by the State Duma, the parliament’s lower house, on January 23 and by the Federation Council, the upper house, on January 28. The agreement envisages the creation of a joint "defense and security space," including the establishment of a unified group of troops of the Russian and Abkhazian Armed Forces. Read more