Russia-EU Strategic Game inthe Ongoing Conflict in Abkhazia

In spite of being internationally isolated, the de facto government of Abkhazia has been relatively stable and successful in carrying out its internal functions, a large part of it being due to the full support of Russia. The aspiration of the Abkhazian people is independence from Tbilisi and Moscow as well as free interaction, as a sovereign state, with the wider world, and in particular Europe. The main purpose of this paper is to discover the strategy of Moscow and Brussels to win the Abkhazian conflict and the following impacts on the continuation of this conflict. The question addressed here is: "What are the strategies of Russia and the European Union to win the conflict in Abkhazia? “The descriptive hypothesis this paper is to examine is: "Russia and the European Union have exercised strategic patience to win the Abkhazian conflict in two opposite directions: Moscow is looking forward to structural and infrastructural development in the society and the government of Georgia and Brussels are waiting on the Western sanctions to begin to bite Russia. “The paper is of qualitative type and is conducted utilizing a descriptive-explanatory methodology. The findings of the study confirm the hypothesis and also conclude that, considering the expectation strategy of the two main actors in the Abkhazian conflict, the most likely option for the foreseeable future is "continuation of the status quo with more stagnation and isolation,” in which time is running out against the EU strategy, although it does not necessarily mean fulfilling Russia's interests.