Vladimir Putin’s Visit to Abkhazia (August 25, 2013)

On August 25, 2013, President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, visited Abkhazia in his Presidential  position for the first time. This was his third visit to Abkhazia since the 2008 Russia-Georgia War. Putin met the de facto leader of Abkhazia, Aleksandre Ankvab in Bichvinta, in a government (former Soviet) dacha (the dacha was a popular resting place for Soviet leaders, built at the order of the Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev in 1960. It was during his vacation at this dacha that Khrushchev learned about the fact that he had been deposed by the Plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In 1974, Khrushchev’s successor, Leonid Brezhnev, even hosted French President Georges Pompidou at the dacha).

The visit coincided with an important date. On August 26, Abkhazia celebrated five years since Russia’s recognition of its independence. According to the Kremlin’s statement “the leaders discussed issues of bilateral cooperation during the talks.”