On the 53rd round of the Geneva discussions

On the 53rd round of the Geneva discussions
30 June 2021 1651

On June 29-30, 2021, the 53-rd round of the Geneva International Discussions on Security and Stability in the South Caucasus was held in Geneva with participation of representatives of the Republic of Abkhazia, Republic of South Ossetia, Georgia, Russian Federation and USA under co-chairmanship of UN, EU and OSCE.

The delegation of the Republic of Abkhazia headed by Irakli Tuzhba, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs consisted of Saida Butba, the Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Abkhazia, Zaal Khvartskiya, Deputy Chairman of the Security Service of the Republic of Abkhazia, Kakha Pertaya, Alkhas Jinjolia, Michael Sangulia, Alexander Tsishba, Members of Parliament of the Republic of Abkhazia and also staff of the MFA of Abkhazia, participants of the Geneva discussions Lasha Avidzba, Arthur Gagulia and Madina Shamba.

At the 53rd round of the Geneva International Discussions, representatives from Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Russia reiterated their growing concern over NATO's increasing activities in Georgia. It was noted, that such actions could undermine multilateral efforts for long-term stabilization of the region. The Abkhazian side called upon the Co-Chairs of the International Geneva Discussions to pay close attention to the violations, as it assessed them as a deliberate provocation by Georgia. The participants of the meeting, apart from the representatives of Georgia, assessed the situation on the Georgian-Abkhaz and Georgian-South Ossetian borders as stable and predictable.

The focus of the regular round was to discuss the text of a joint oral statement on the non-use of force, which would serve as an important step towards signing of a legally binding agreement on the non-use of force between Georgia and Abkhazia and Georgia and South Ossetia. However, the Georgian side again blocked progress on this key issue.

A shared interest in the need for new approaches to advance work in this area was confirmed and it was therefore decided to postpone discussion of this issue to the next round of the International Geneva Discussions.

Due to the fact that the Georgian side stubbornly continues to impose the discussion of refugees and politicization of this issue in all international squares, where the views of the representatives of the Republic of Abkhazia and the Republic of South Ossetia are not considered, it is not possible to discuss this issue in Geneva.

During the round, the participants unanimously called for the work of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) in Gali to be unblocked as soon as possible, as one of the important formats for the work of the Geneva discussions.

The Abkhaz delegation continued to reaffirm its commitment to the resumption of the work of the mechanism, if specific issues of common interest were put on the agenda.

Within the work of groups on humanitarian issues there were discussions on topical issues related to freedom of movement, education and a number of other issues. The next 54th round of the Geneva International Discussions on Security and Stability in the South Caucasus will take place on October 12-13, 2021.

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