Bags of sands have been lined up in front of the interior ministry of Ajaria and over fifty armed men have been deployed to guard the territory. One tank and a Grad-type rocket launcher has been stationed on a stadium near the Ajarian Supreme Council by the directive of the Ajarian authorities. The main issue for the central government remains the disarmament of illegal armed formations in the autonomous republic. “Everything should be done to disarm people in Ajaria” stated Georgian Interior Minister Giorgi Baramidze stated, calling on the Ajarian authorities to stop terrorizing the local population and enlisting citizens into illegal armed groupings. President Mikheil Saakashvili stated that “if Abashidze is not able to disarm the residents of the autonomy, then the central authorities are ready to open special stations where residents will be able to hand over firearms, which was distributed by Abashidze in exchange for money”. On the other hand, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Ajaria Rostom Japaridze believes that the people of Ajara need their arms for their own protection.

In a written address to the Ajarian population, President Mikheil Saakashvili says that there are forces among the Ajarian authorities who have declared disobedience to the central Georgian authorities. “They are armed to their teeth, and are preparing for war with the Georgian armed forces; they disregard directives of the commander-in-chief”. The address was voiced at a press conference by one leader of the opposition movement based in Batumi, “Our Ajaria”.

President Saakashvili calls the information spread by local authorities to the effect that Tbilisi intends to abolish the Ajarian Autonomy, impose restrictions on religious groups, destroy mosques, and resettle people of other ethnicities in Ajaria a \"dirty lie\". \"This lie is circulated by people who have stolen money from the local population of Ajara, people who live like kings, while many Ajarians can hardly make ends meet, these are people who were involved in criminal activities and now have openly embarked on the road of treason,\" Saakashvili goes on in the address.

The situation escalated after the local authorities did not allow the central government to hold repeat parliamentary elections in the mountainous part of the autonomous republic and refused to let the chairman of the Central Election Commission of Georgia pass through the Choloki checkpoint, the main link between Ajaria and the rest of Georgia.

Having negotiated with U.S. Ambassador Richard Miles, Abashidze stated that the recommendations of the international community should be considered by everyone, however he emphasized that the tensions did not emanate from Ajaria. Negotiations between Abashidze and a group of influential businessmen from Tbilisi in order to avoid further conflict resulted in promises that the parties will do everything to find a settlement to the problem. After meeting with businessmen, Abashidze left to sign an agreement on hosting the women’s World Chess Championship in Batumi in May 2004. It seems that for Abashidze, the Chess tournament is of more salience than the dispute with the central government.

It appears that Saakashvili seeks a peaceful solution to the conflict by using international pressure on Abashidze. The central government clearly tries to convince Abashidze to leave his office in a peaceful way, otherwise a confrontation seems unavoidable. Saakashvili stated that “there are some peaceful resources that remain to discharge the ongoing tense situation in the Autonomous Republic of Ajaria”, and instructed the cabinet to draft a special program aiming at social support of the Ajarian population. In addition, the president criticized the term \"standoff between the center and the region\" declaring that the situation in Ajaria is neither a standoff nor a conflict, as the main point of the problem is one criminal clan, which must be given the place it deserves.

Very few believe that Aslan Abashidze will leave his office in a peaceful way. Backed by hundreds of paramilitaries and influential politicians from the north, he presents a powerful warlord in the western part of Georgia and plays the role of a spoiler for the further development of the country. Despite the fact that neither the central government nor Saakashvili’s western friends approve of his activities, they have to make some concession in order to avoid the escalation of a conflict from which none of the parties would benefit.