The leader of Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia has threatened to destroy any Georgian ship entering Abkhazia's "territorial waters." "I issued an order to our navy to destroy Georgian ships violating Abkhazia's sea border," Sergei Bagapsh told Interfax. "This step has been motivated by unending acts of piracy by Georgia."

The President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan has declared that “the right of Nagorno Karabakh for self-determination should be recognized.”

Russia's president signed decrees on Tuesday recognizing Georgia's breakaway South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states and called on other countries to follow suit.

Lawmakers in the State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, have unanimously adopted a resolution calling on President Dmitry Medvedev to recognize the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

This morning CNN had changed totally. For a moment I thought I am watching a Russian channel not the CNN, as the network was showing what the Russians were telling already few days: that the Georgia and it's president Saakashvili committed atrocities in South Ossetia. I hear more talks on CNN about the recognition of these republics' independence and getting peace in the region.

President Medvedev said Russia would “support any status for South Ossetia and Abkhazia that is accepted by the people of these republics.”

Georgia has deployed over 1,500 police and soldiers in upper Kodori Gorge, which indicates that Tbilisi is preparing for a military operation against Abkhazia, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on April 29.

Georgia has criticized Russia for lifting trade and financial sanctions on the Georgian separatist region of Abkhazia, which is seeking recognition as an independent country.

Russia has lifted trade and financial sanctions on the Georgian separatist region of Abkhazia, which is seeking recognition as an independent country.

Abkhazia demands that Tbilisi withdraw its troops from the breakaway Georgian region's border, a spokesman for the Abkhazian president said on Tuesday.

Relations remain tense between Russia and Georgia several weeks after Georgian forces killed two Russian military officers in the Georgian separatist region of Abkhazia.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili demanded Thursday a change in the format of talks on Abkhazia and the replacement of peacekeepers in the secessionist republic of the South Caucasus nation.