Whose Georgia?

Russia and the United States have been embroiled in a dispute since yesterday over the fate of Georgia's breakaway region, Abkhazia. The debate took place at a U.N. Security Council meeting regarding the renewal of a U.N. mission in the Caucasus state. The issue came to a head mostly due to Sergei Shamba, the separatist foreign minister of Abkhazia. Shamba, who had wanted to address the Security Council's debate regarding this particular U.N. mission, was denied a visa to the United States because of his position against the pro-Western Georgian government. Though the United States claims that it is "under no obligation to grant Shamba a visa because Abkhazia separatist government is not internationally recognized," Russia interprets this decision otherwise. Russia's U.N. ambassador Vitaly Churkin called Samba's prevention of entry a "serious diplomatic and political mistake" on the United States' part. Churkin even went one step further, making a comparison with Serbia's Kosovo region: "Can you imagine, what would be the situation...if in the case of the Kosovo conflict, all those years the international community were listening only to the Serb side?" However, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pointed out that Russia is stirring up trouble, given that a Russian helicopter attack happened on March 11 in Georgian-controlled territory bordering Abkhazia.

Is the United States being unfair and undiplomatic by preventing Samba, whose separatist efforts are backed by Moscow, from speaking his piece in front of the U.N. Security Council? Or, is Russia creating false analogies in an aggressive attempt to undermine the United States' position on peace efforts in Abkhazia?