Newly appointed UN Secretary General’s Special Representative in Georgia, French diplomat Jean Arnault met with breakaway Abkhaz Foreign Minister Sergey Shamba in Sokhumi on August 28, Apsnipress news agency reported.

According to the Abkhaz news agency, Jean Arnault said after talks that way out from the current deadlock in the conflict resolution process is a political dialogue between the sides, reports Trend.

Situation in the Georgian-controlled upper Kodori gorge is a major reason of a current standoff between Tbilisi and Sokhumi, as the Georgian side has boosted its official presence in the gorge since late July after cracking down on local rebel militias in the gorge.

The Abkhaz and Russian sides claim that Georgia has its troops in the gorge, which is a violation of the major agreement.

“If we fail to solve situation in Kodori Gorge, it will influence on possibility of resumption of negotiating process… Resolution of the problem involving Kodori Gorge will show whether the Georgian side is willing or not to return in frames of existing agreements, envisaging demilitarization of Kodori Gorge,” Sergey Shamba, the Foreign Minister of breakaway Abkhazia said after talks with the UN envoy.