The Russian party called on Georgia to provide guarantees of the non-use of force against South Ossetia and Abkhazia and to launch the process of delimiting the borders with the two republics, according to the press release of the Russian Foreign Ministry following the 62nd round of the International Discussions on Security and Stability in Transcaucasia, held in Geneva on November 5-6.
“The participants confirmed their common commitment to this format, which remains a popular negotiating platform for the post-conflict restoration of Tbilisi's relations with Sukhum and Tskhinval.
The Russian party emphasized the importance of transforming the conciliatory signals coming from Tbilisi into practice, securing and developing them in specific steps, including, first of all, Georgia's acceptance of the legally binding guarantees of the non-use of force against the Republic of Abkhazia and the Republic of South Ossetia, as well as the launch of the process of delimitation of the Georgian-Abkhaz and the Georgian-South Ossetian state borders with their subsequent demarcation," the Foreign Ministry has noted.
It was stressed that the relevance of these tasks was due to the recognition by the official Tbilisi of the presence of political forces in Georgia itself and beyond its borders that are hatching plans to open a "second front" against Russia in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as well as the regular re-affirmation of the doctrinal guidelines in the Georgian constitution for the country's accession to NATO and the EU, and the ongoing development of national armed forces according to the standards of the North Atlantic Alliance.
"As for the security situation "in the world", according to the assessment of the majority of participants in the Discussions, it generally remains relatively calm.
Stability in the border area is largely ensured by the sustainable operation of the interaction channels created under the auspices of the International Discussions, including subscriber communication points - "hotlines", as well as the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) on the Georgian-South Ossetian border in the village of Ergnet," the Foreign Ministry has noted.
The Foreign Ministry has added that efforts are being made to launch a similar IPRM on the Georgian-Abkhaz border in the settlement of Gal.
"The stumbling block on the humanitarian track remains the highly politicized resolution of the UN General Assembly on internally displaced persons and refugees, annually submitted by Tbilisi, - the Ministry emphasized. -
The denial of access to New York for representatives of Sukhum and Tskhinval to present their positions on this issue continues to hinder its consideration under the auspices of the International Discussions.
Given the de facto loss of Switzerland's neutral status due to its accession to all packages of the illegal anti-Russian sanctions of the European Union, the delegations of Russia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia once again raised the issue of moving regular rounds from Geneva to another location acceptable to all participants, calling for a substantive discussion of this topic."
The Foreign Ministry has emphasized that Moscow, with the continued support of its allies, intends to continue making efforts to achieve consensus on this fundamental issue.
The discussions will continue. An agreement was reached to hold the next round in March 2025.
Representatives of South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Georgia, the Russian Federation and the United States took part in the work of the next round in Geneva, under the co-chairmanship of the UN, OSCE and the European Union.
