Developments at occupation line discussed at 49th round of Geneva Int’l Discussions
The participants of the Geneva International Discussions are the central government of Georgia, the de-facto representatives of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali, Russia, the US, the UN, the OSCE and the EU. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
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"Destructive and provocative activities” of the occupation forces near the Tbilisi-controlled village of Chorchana as well as “the grave humanitarian consequences” caused by occupied Tskhinvali’s decision to close its crossing-points were discussed at the 49th round of Geneva International Discussions (GID).
The Georgian Foreign Ministry reported late on Wednesday that participants from Tbilisi underscored importance of de-escalation on the ground. Calling on Russia to stop its destructive activities, they also stressed the importance to continue dialogue in all existing formats.
Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Lasha Drasalia who leads the Georgian delegation to GID said the Russian delegation left the negotiations “traditionally”, while discussing the issue of retuning internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their homes in occupied Tskhinvali and Abkhazia.
Nothing new, this is what unfortunately has happened during the 48th round as well”, Darsalia told journalists after the GID.
Darsalia reiterated his earlier remarks that there were “rather heavy issues on the agenda” and “no particular breakthrough” was expected at this round of GID.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has also released a statement summing up the meetings. It said apart from the tension over the construction of a Georgian police checkpoint in Chorchana, all the participants except from Georgia, have assessed the overall situation along the occupation line as “stable”.
New Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko told journalists after the GID meeting that neither conflict, nor occupation exists for Russia after it “recognised Abkhazia and South Ossetia” back in 2008.
PRESS COMMUNIQUÉ OF THE CO-CHAIRS OF THE GENEVA INTERNATIONAL DISCUSSIONS after the 49th Round of #GID https://t.co/PY6kbNxsc1
— OSCE (@OSCE) October 9, 2019
Co-chairs of GID said in a joint statement that they welcomed Abkhazia’s decision to reopen its crossing-point between the region and the rest of the country after over a three-months closure. However, they stressed the need to reopen all crossing-points along the occupation line with Tskhinvali as well.
The next round of GID has been scheduled for December 10-11.