On 5-6 November the next meeting within the framework of the International Discussions on Security and Stability in Transcaucasia is planned to be held in Geneva. Participants include representatives of the Republic of Abkhazia, Georgia, the Russian Federation, the United States of America, the Republic of South Ossetia, as well as the UN, the OSCE and the EU. The Russian delegation will be led by State Secretary/Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Grigory Karasin.
Taking into account the presidential elections in Georgia which were held on 27 October, the upcoming consultations will be decisive for further prospects of the Geneva process. An aggressive propaganda campaign on the state border of Georgia with the Republic of South Ossetia launched in September - October raises a question on genuine intentions of Tbilisi at the meetings in Geneva.
Conclusion of relevant bilateral agreements between the Republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and Georgia on non-use of force remains at the top of the agenda. In this respect, the Russian delegation is going to once again draw participants’attention to its draft joint statement presented in 2012 on non-use of force, which, if adopted, would help to conciliate the positions of Sukhum, Tbilisi and Tskhinval and go ahead after many years of making no headway.
In order to ease tensions on the borders of South Ossetia and Abkhazia with Georgia, parties will have to agree on gradual steps aimed at informing the local population of border crossing procedures and modalities of future works on border facilities. Joint mechanisms of prevention and reaction to incidents in the border regions play a crucial role in this respect. It is important to strengthen effectiveness of their implementation on the spot.
Given the problems related to working procedures and agenda organisation of the Discussions that occurred in the course of last rounds of the Geneva meetings, parties are going to seriously discuss the structure of the Geneva meetings and work out their mutually acceptable modalities, including a final meeting of all participants. This will help to avoid losing time on long negotiations around minor issues which are not directly related to the subject of these consultations agreed in 2008 by presidents of Russia and France.
The Russian party is ready for an open and mutually respectful dialogue in Geneva with all participants.
31 October 2013
