Tensions are as high as they have been in 15 years over Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia, where "frozen" conflict has given way to heated rhetoric, the downing of Georgian spy drones, and thinly veiled threats.
The most serious verbal jousting has been between Moscow, which says it is boosting its peacekeeping presence in Abkhazia, and Tbilisi, which has urged international help to persuade Abkhaz sponsors in Russia to "back off."
The United Nations has weighed in cautiously with an expression of concern and by urging all sides to respect Georgia's territorial integrity.
In the latest installment of our occasional briefings on developments in RFE/RL's broadcast region, RFE/RL Georgian Service Director David Kakabadze talks about the escalating diplomatic row and the stakes:
