'Little overall progress' reported.

• Position: Republic of Georgia and break-away Abkhazia province

In calling upon Georgia and in particular Abkhazia - a small Georgia - to continue negotiations "as a matter of urgency", the Security Council on 18 August noted that there had been "little overall progress" in achieving a comprehensive political settlement between the parties, and a stalemate existed with respect to the return of refugees and displaced persons.

In a statement by Council President Nugroho Wisnumurti of Indonesia, the 15-member body also expressed full support for efforts by the Secretary-General and the Russian Federation, in its capacity as facilitator, towards such a settlement, including the status of Abkhazia, "respecting fully the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Georgia".

Expressing deep concern over the "continued obstruction" of the return of refugees and displaced persons by Abkhaz authorities, which it considered "totally unacceptable", the Council called for a guarantee of the safety of all returnees and regularization of the status of spontaneous returnees, in accordance with internationally accepted practice and in cooperation with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

On 7 August, Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali reported (S/1995/657) that a significant gap remained between the two sides regarding the political status of Abkhazia within the territorial integrity of Georgia, as both continued to take "positions that cannot, as yet, be bridged".

Abkhazia's constitutional arrangements - declaring...