Russia has signed an agreement with the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia to build a permanent naval base on its Black Sea coast.

Aslan Bzhania, the leader of the occupied Moscow-backed region, said the new base will be in the Ochamchira district "in the near future," according to the Izvestiya newspaper.

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“All this is aimed at increasing the level of defense capability of both Russia and Abkhazia, and this kind of cooperation will continue, because it ensures the fundamental interests of both Abkhazia and Russia, and security is above all,” he said. “There are also things I can’t talk about.”

Bzhania met with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week.

Georgia's foreign ministry said the move "represent a gross violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia and another provocative attempt to legitimize the illegal occupation of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions of Georgia" and expressed concern over "the inclusion of the indivisible Abkhazia region of Georgia in the integration processes initiated by Russia."

Abkhazia is one of two Georgian breakaway regions, the other being South Ossetia, both of which Russia unilaterally recognized as independent states in 2008. Last month, deputy chairman of the Kremlin’s Security Council and former President Dmitry Medvedev indicated that they could seek to annex both regions, though the unrecognized South Caucasus state's foreign ministry responded by saying that while Abkhazia is a "steadfast ally of the Russian Federation," the idea of joining the country "is not a subject for debate."

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Most of the world considers Abkhazia as part of Georgia, while only Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru, and Syria have recognized Abkhazia as independent.

Russia's Black Sea Fleet is based in Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. It has repeatedly been targeted by Ukrainian forces.