On August 26, a delegation from the self-proclaimed Republic of Abkhazia arrived in Syria to participate in the 62nd Damascus International Fair, which will open on August 27 and will be held for the first time in six years.

According to the Abkhaz Foreign Ministry, the delegation is headed by Oleg Bartsits, the head of the department. It includes Minister of Economy Teimuraz Mikvabia, Minister of Culture Daur Kove, Acting Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Irakli Tuzhba, Vice-Rector for International Relations and Economic Issues at the Abkhaz State University Maxim Gvindzhia, Chief Specialist of the State Investment Agency Said Sangulia, and Head of the Middle East and Africa Department at the Foreign Ministry Artur Gagulia.

The Abkhaz side claims that the delegation is participating in the Damascus Fair at the invitation of the Syrian government and President Ahmed al-Sharaa. Bartsits already visited Damascus in June. He held a meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Assad Hassan al-Shaybani and "thanked his Syrian counterpart for the fairly clear and unambiguous position of the Syrian leadership on the issues of further development and strengthening of interstate cooperation" with Abkhazia.

Earlier, Georgia asked the Turkish side to act as a mediator in negotiations with the new Syrian government to achieve the withdrawal of its recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Representatives of the Georgian opposition, as well as U.S. Congressman Joe Wilson, made a similar appeal to the Syrian authorities. The position of official Damascus was not reported.

Georgia and the country's international partners consider Abkhazia and South Ossetia to be territories occupied by the Russian Federation. Their independence is recognized only by Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Syria, and Nauru. The Syrian Arab Republic recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in 2018, after which Georgia severed diplomatic relations with Damascus. An Abkhaz embassy was opened in the Syrian capital in 2020. Ahmed al-Sharaa came to power after the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in December 2024. Since then, the Syrian authorities have restored partnership relations with the West. Al-Sharaa, in particular, has held meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron.