Russian warnings that a unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo could set a precedent for other breakaway territories provokes jitters among US and European Union officials. But in the separatist territory of Abkhazia on the Black Sea, Moscow’s words are as welcome as winter sunshine.

“We see Kosovo exactly as a precedent, not only for Abkhazia but for many other unrecognised countries,” says Maxim Gunjia, the deputy foreign minister, in a telephone interview in Sukhumi, the Abkhazian capital. “We want to achieve international recognition for our independence.”