The Georgian Foreign Ministry has described Russia’s decision to ease controls on its border with breakaway Abkhazia as that country's attempt to grant international status to the Gantiadi-Adler checkpoint “functioning illegitimately at the Abkhaz section of the Georgian-Russian state border.”

The Georgian Foreign Ministry sent a protest note to the Russian side, which says that the Kazbegi-Zemo Larsi checkpoint “is the only legitimately operating checkpoint across the whole length of Georgia’s state border with Russia.”

Hence, all other checkpoints including those of Gantiadi-Adler (Abkhaz section of the border) and Roki-Kvemo Zaramagi (South Ossetian section of the border) are illegitimate, according to the Georgian Foreign Ministry.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia condemns this act as “a violation of the fundamental principles of international law, in particular, the principle of fair fulfillment of international commitments and calls upon the Russian side to make the functioning of the illegitimate checkpoints consistent with the requirements of the October 8, 1993 Agreement on Customs Border Checkpoints between the Government of Georgia and the Government of Russia.”