Russia calls for dialogue on cross-border issues between Georgia and South Ossetia
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko discussed with the EU, UN and OSCE representatives the situation on the border of South Ossetia and Georgia, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
"The main topic of the consultations was the discussion of the situation on the border of the Republic of South Ossetia with Georgia. The Russian side emphasized the importance of speedy removal of tension in the border strip near the village of Tsnelis through the search for compromise solutions through dialogue and refusal from unilateral actions," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. published on the official website.
The consultations in Moscow were attended by the co-chairs of the Geneva International Discussions on Security and Stability in the Transcaucasia- the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Toivo Klaar, UN Representative Cihan Sultanoglu and Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Rudolf Mikhalka. The meeting participants arrived in Russia in preparation for the next round of the Geneva discussions on Transcaucasia, scheduled for October this year.
Representatives of the EU, OSCE and UN also informed the Russian side about the results of their planned trip to Sukhum, Tbilisi and Tskhinval.
At the end of August, South Ossetia announced that the Georgian side had put up the illegal roadblock on its territory near the village of Tsnelis in Znaur district. The authorities of South Ossetia demanded that Georgia remove the police post by August 30, otherwise they promised to take "legal means to protect the population from emerging threats," but Georgia continued to arrange the checkpoint.
Later, the border guards of South Ossetia occupied a height in the Tsnelis area and put up their post as part of a special humanitarian operation to thwart Georgian attempts to establish control over part of the South Ossetian territory. The situation is being discussed at the technical meetings of the IPRM format with the participation of representatives of the OSCE, the EU and the Russian Federation, but so far to no avail.
The Geneva discussions on security and stability in Transcaucasia are held after the events of August 2008, when Georgia launched an attack on South Ossetia. Representatives of Russia, Abkhazia, Georgia, the USA and South Ossetia, as well as the UN, the European Union and the OSCE observers also take part in the negotiations.
