UNOMIG has said the situation on the ground cannot confirm Tbilisi and secessionist authorities’ respective claims about military buildups in the Abkhazian conflict zone.

Georgian officials accuse Russia of deploying extra military equipment and troops in Abkhazia under the guise of a routine rotation of peacekeeper personnel. The de facto Abkhaz government claim Tbilisi is amassing armed forces in Georgian-controlled upper Kodori Gorge.

Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili told journalists on December 10 that Georgian authorities had information that, in addition to an influx of Russia soldiers and equipment, Abkhaz militia were placing mines along the administrative border with Georgia.

“We will check this information with the UN observers and make an appropriate response as this is absolutely unacceptable,” Bezhuashvili said.

A December 12 statement from the office of the UN secretary general, however, suggested the observers did not reach the same conclusion as Tbilisi.

“UNOMIG has been conducting daily verification of these claims, many of which have, so far, not been confirmed by the situation on the ground,” the statement read.

The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that the Russian peacekeeping forces were undergoing a rotation in the conflict zone, though Russian army official Igor Konashenkov said the total number of peacekeepers never increased.

“The number of peacekeepers meets every bilateral and international agreement,” he said on December 10.

The veracity of other Georgian reports of actions in the conflict zone has also been contested.

Georgian media reported last week that the de facto Abkhaz government had declared a state of emergency in the region, warning ethnic Georgians within Abkhazia not to vote in the January 5 presidential election.

Abkhaz de facto officials denied calling a state of emergency, though de facto foreign minister Sergey Shamba, in a December 13 interview with Georgian news agency Interpressnews, confirmed his side has deployed extra armed personnel near the administrative border with Georgia.

Acting Georgian president Nino Burjanadze, meanwhile, reissued warnings on Thursday to the Abkhaz separatist authorities, assuring them that Georgia is ready to answer to any “provocations.”

She claimed that Russian peacekeepers and Abkhaz forces have been tearing down campaign posters for ruling party candidate Mikheil Saakashvili, running for reelection in Georgia’s January 5 presidential election, in ethnic Georgian-populated Gali.

The UN secretary-general’s latest statement, acknowledging the recurring accusations of the Georgian and Abkhaz authorities, called for both sides to display calm and restraint, and “comply fully with previous agreements regarding ceasefire and non-use of violence.”