Russia plans to create a naval base on the Black Sea coast of Abkhazia, the occupied territory of the Republic of Georgia.

Aslan Bzhania, the leader of the unrecognized region, told the Russian Izvestia newspaper a day after his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Bzhania said that an agreement was signed on a permanent naval base location in the Ochamchira district.

“We have signed an agreement, and in the near future, the Russian Navy will have a permanent base in the Ochamchira district,” he said.

“This is all aimed at increasing the level of defense capability of both Russia and Abkhazia, and such interaction will continue,” Bzhania added, noting that “there are things I cannot talk about.”

Bzhania also said that Georgia’s current leaders are “pragmatists.”

Abkhazia was occupied by Russia as a result of a hybrid war against Georgia in 1992-1994 and has since been controlled by the Kremlin through puppet governments.

Russia recognized Abkhazia’s “independence” after its direct military invasion of Georgia in 2008.

Economically and politically, Abkhazia is completely dependent on Russia. Georgia considers Abkhazia a part of its territory occupied by Russia.

The decision to create a base for the Russian Navy in Abkhazia may be due to the fact that the temporarily occupied Sevastopol is no longer a safe harbor for Russian ships, and the relocation of the fleet to Novorossiysk may lead to the port’s inability to operate as a channel for Russian oil exports.

One of Georgia’s opposition leaders, Nino Burjanadze, has previously stated that Ukraine’s victory over Russia could help return Abkhazia and South Ossetia, temporarily occupied by Moscow, to Tbilisi’s control.

Previously, British intelligence reported that after the latest series of successful Ukrainian strikes, the Russian Black Sea Fleet would not be able to have the same control over the Black Sea as before.