On July 13, the Russian state news agency TASS said that Bzhania made the comments while travelling to the Russian Republic of Bashkortostan (Bashkiria).

The Kremlin-backed leader of the occupied Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania, announced that after a sizable number of nations issued sanctions on Russia, the region is prepared to open its ports to parallel imports from Russia as the Kremlin seeks to dodge Western sanctions imposed after it started its invasion of Ukraine on February 24. "We are not frightened of any sanctions; they have never been removed against us," Bzhania said, in reference to the potential for Abkhazia to receive penalties in return. He went on to say that, on the contrary, these challenges will increase the country's proximity to Russia.

Earlier, Caucasus Watch reported that the Birmingham Declaration of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly underscored the necessity of full implementation by the Russian Federation of the EU-mediated August 12, 2008 Ceasefire Agreement, as well as the decision by the European Court of Human Rights of January 2021, expressing deep regret over the ongoing conflict between the Russian Federation and Georgia since 2008.

The Russian Federation was urged to end its occupation of the Georgian territories of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali and participate constructively in the Geneva International Discussions, according to the Birmingham Declaration, which was adopted by the OSCE PA at its 29th Annual Session in Birmingham on July 2–6, 2022.

Read also:

The War in Ukraine and Evolving Georgian-Russian Relations

Meeting of the Russian-Abkhaz Economic Commission in Separatist Sokhumi

Updates Concerning Abkhazia

Russian MP: "Russian language possibly discriminated in Abkhazia"