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Russia’s top diplomat Sergey Lavrov on December 20 hosted Inal Ardzinba and Dmitry Medoev, ‘foreign ministers’ of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia, respectively, in Russia’s black sea coastal town of Sochi.

The Russian FM and the Kremlin-backed authorities of the occupied regions held both bilateral meetings as well as joint trilateral talks, primarily focused on Moscow’s assistance to Sokhumi and Tskhinvali and the Geneva International Discussions.

According to Russia’s Foreign Ministry (MID), during the meetings FM Lavrov reiterated Moscow’s “readiness to provide all possible assistance to Abkhazia and South Ossetia in their state-building, strengthening of security, development of socio-economic, humanitarian and cultural spheres.”

The sides also expressed their common desire to deepen “foreign policy coordination,” placing an emphasis on expanding ties between the occupied regions and foreign countries, according to the same report.