Dear compatriots, We are closely monitoring the situation around the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics. You know that Abkhazia has special relations with the peoples of these republics, and every citizen of Abkhazia sincerely sympathizes with their struggle for justice, for the right to a decent life. The people of Abkhazia have survived all this. The origins of our sympathy for the peoples of these republics is in the similarity of our destinies, when more than 4 million Russian-speaking citizens of Ukraine were subjected to actual genocide.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Abkhazia sent a congratulatory note to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation on the celebration of Defender of the Fatherland Day.

We welcome and consider lawful the decision of the President of the Russian Federation to recognize the state sovereignty and independence of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Lugansk People's Republic.

Zaur Gvajava, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Abkhazia to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, took part in the commemoration of the leader of the national liberation revolution Augusto Sandino Calderon. The ceremony took place at Augusto Sandino Square in the city of Caracas.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Abkhazia is closely following the development of the situation in south-eastern of Ukraine.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Abkhazia sent a congratulatory note to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh on the occasion of the Revival Day.

The Chairman of the Federation of Abkhazian Cultural Centers in Turkey (Abkhazfed) Murat Makharia, on behalf of the Abkhazfed, expressed support for the call of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Abkhazia, Inal Ardzinba, to the Secretary General of the United Nations to grant the Republic of Abkhazia the status of an observer state in the UN.

On February 16 in Managua, the ceremony of presenting copies of credentials of Inar Ladaria, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Abkhazia to the Republic of Nicaragua to Denis Moncada, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Nicaragua was held.

Inal Ardzinba, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Abkhazia, met in Moscow with Maria Zakharova, Director of the Department of Information and Press of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Inal Ardzinba, Foreign Minister of Abkhazia met with Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of «Russia Today» TV channel, Russia Today news agency and «Sputnik» news agency in Moscow.