"Negotiations are already underway. We welcome the proposal by Russia to set up a base for the Black Sea fleet in Abkhazia," said the de facto foreign minister of Abkhazia, Sergei Shamba, quoted by RIA Novosti news agency.

Russia's Black Sea fleet, which took part in the Russian offensive against Georgia in August, is currently based in Sevastopol in southern Ukraine but is due to leave by 2017 because of a long-running dispute with Ukraine.

The new base could be in the town of Ochamchira, Shamba said.

Russia is already planning to set up a permanent base with thousands of troops in Abkhazia, which it recognised as independent along with the separatist region of South Ossetia following the conflict with Georgia.

Russian member of parliament Vladimir Komoyedov, a former commander of the Black Sea fleet, also said on Thursday that Russia was "examining" the possibility of setting up a naval base in Ochamchira in Abkhazia.

The Black Sea fleet has been based in Sevastopol since Soviet times.

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