Occupied territories of Georgia
In April 2013, Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said after meeting with his Georgian counterpart Maia Panjikidze that Russia respected only a state "that is larger" and therefore the Czech Republic could not mediate between Russia and Georgia. As for Georgia’s future with regard to the occupied territories, the Czech Foreign Minister said Georgia should maintain contacts with them. "It is difficult when your territories are occupied, but sometimes you have to wait for years, even decades before the window of possibilities will be opened for you. I do not know when that time will come, but it will necessarily come", he said.
Occupied territories of Georgia
Russia signed "alliance and integration" agreements with Abkhazia in November 2014 and South Ossetia in March 2015. Both treaties formally placed the respective militaries of the breakaway republics under Russian command, while the agreement with South Ossetia also included provisions integrating its economy with that of Russia. The border between Russia and South Ossetia was also effectively dissolved, with customs being integrated. An aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin said in early 2015 that the border with Abkhazia should also be removed. Georgian officials have strenuously condemned the deepening of the occupied territories' economic and military dependence on Russia, calling it "creeping annexation". Georgian officials denounced integration treaties signed between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Abkhaz and South Ossetian counterparts in 2014 and 2015 as attempts to annex the breakaway regions into the Russian Federation.