South Ossetia and Abkhazia plan to sign agreements on mutual recognition

South Ossetia and Abkhazia plan to sign agreements on mutual recognition and military cooperation, said Robert Kokoev, South Ossetia's ambassador to Abkhazia.

The diplomat could not give the dates when the documents can be signed. "I can't tell you now when the procedure (signing) will take place; in view of what happened with the capital of the Republic of South Ossetia - the buildings of the MFA and Parliament are ruined completely, including all the documents; we need time to restore them," Mr Kokoev has explained.

At the same time, according to the ambassador, the embassy of South Ossetia in Abkhazia has been operating for almost year already - since September 2007, and it will go on as planned.

"We were ready to independence, just waiting for it. We have a complete programme of cooperation, which covers cultural, economic and customs areas. To some extent we've begun the work, but the war hampered," the RIA "Novosti" quotes Mr Kokoev as saying.

Sergey Shamba, Abkhazian Minister of Foreign Affairs, has stated today that his Republic will laboriously work towards recognition of its independence by other countries. As he said, Abkhazia can join the Allied State of Russia and Belarus and by virtue of this get access to international organizations, the "Interfax" reports.