Georgia and Russia Reach No Agreement at 45th Round of Geneva Talks
By Tea Mariamidze
Friday, October 12
Moscow and Tbilisi could not reach agreement on key issues at the 45th round of the Geneva International Discussions (GID) held on October 9-10.
The discussions, which represent the only format of an international dialogue between Georgia and Russia, summed up 10-year work and underlined the importance of the format in the regulation of the conflict between Russia and Georgia.
The GID is held four times a year with Co-Chairmanship of the EU, UN and OSCE, and with the participation of Georgia, the Russian Federation and the USA. The representatives of Georgia’s breakaway regions - Sokhumi and Tskhinvali occupation regimes also attend the Working Groups.
The talks are usually held within a two meeting-group format. At first meeting, the sides discuss security and stability issues in Georgia’s breakaway Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions, while the second meeting concerns the safe return of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and refugees to their homes.
Georgia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) reports that as usual, “participants from Moscow, Sokhumi and Tskhinvali have demonstrated the traditional destructiveness, they tried to politicize humanitarian issues” and left the negotiating room while discussing the issues on the safe and dignified return of IDPs and refugees to their homes in the occupied regions.
MFA says the Georgian side stressed that Russia exercises power in breakaway regions and is to be held responsible for the gross violation of human rights there.
They also raised the killings of the Georgian citizen Archil Tatunashvili in breakaway S. Ossetia who had 100 injuries inflicted before his death. The participants were encouraged to continue exchanging information on this and other similar cases, such as the killing of Giga Otkhozoria in May 2016, and Davit Basharuli, murder in unclear circumstances in breakaway Tskhinvali in 2015.
Particular attention was paid to the situation in occupied Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali regions as well as in the areas adjacent to the occupation line in terms of security and human rights. Consequences of abduction and installation of wire fences and various artificial barriers on occupation line, illegal arrests, including the kidnapping of Georgian citizens Maia Otinashvili and Akaki Dotiashvili were condemned.
The MFA says that representatives of the US, European Union Monitoring Mission and of Georgia noted that the Russian Federation grossly violates the EU ceasefire agreement of 12 August 2008 and urged Moscow to fully fulfill its international obligations, including the withdrawal of occupation forces from the territory of Georgia.
Russian Foreign Ministry also commented on the GID. The official statement reads that at the meeting representatives of Russia, breakaway Tskhinvali and Abkhazia expressed their concern about the increased NATO military presence and training in the region and the activities of Lugar Biological Laboratory in Georgia.
“The Russian side called on Tbilisi to provide access to official representatives of Abkhazia and South Ossetia at international forums, first of all in the UN, where the issues of Geneva discussions are discussed," the statement reads.
According to Moscow, discussions were also focused on the issue of non-use of force.
"The principal disagreement of the parties on interpretations of the 2008 ceasefire agreement and on the ways of establishing stability in the Transcaucasia has prevented sides from reaching the consensus on this issue," the Russian Foreign Ministry wrote.
The statement reads that “the majority of the participants noted that the situation is stable on the borders of Abkhazia and South Ossetia."
In addition, the Kremlin argues that the “so-called significant problem in providing free movement on the border does not exist.”
Despite the disagreement on the top issues, all the sides agreed that the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meetings in Gali and Ergneti, created within the GID format, which have not been successful lately, need to be continued.
The next round of Geneva International Discussions will take place on December 11-12.
