Ramiz Mehdiyev, the former head of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration, has been placed under house arrest for four months. He is accused of attempting to seize state power, treason, and laundering criminally acquired property.

“Abkhazia is not considering the option of joining the Russian Federation. The political forces of the republic stand for close and allied relations with Russia, but not for becoming one of its subjects,” said Sergey Shamba, Secretary of the Security Council of Abkhazia.
Earlier, the Georgian Foreign Ministry called the Russian official's article an attempt to encroach on the country's territorial integrity. “The statements of Deputy Head of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Medvedev are a continuation of the policy of the Russian Federation on the occupation of the territories of Georgia and another attempt to encroach on sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Tbilisi said.
In his article, Dmitry Medvedev admitted that the idea of joining the self-proclaimed republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia to Russia could be realized if the West continues to inflame the situation in Georgia.