On 4 June, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Abkhazia Oleg Bartsits received the Co-Chairs of the International Discussions on Security and Stability in the Transcaucasia: UN Co-Chair Cihan Sultanoğlu, EU Co-Chair Magdalena Grono, OSCE Co-Chair Christoph Ernst Späti.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs noted that today the IDT is the only format for ensuring lasting security in the Transcaucasian region, and Abkhazia attaches great importance to it.

"We expect that all participants in the Discussions will be guided by considerations of achieving lasting peace in the region, maintaining and improving the existing security standards and will be focused on constructive work," the head of the Foreign Ministry said.

Oleg Bartsits emphasized that the Abkhazian side proceeds from the fact that the main issue is the need to develop and sign with Georgia a legally binding document on the non-use of force between the Republic of Abkhazia and Georgia. "This is the cornerstone of our participation in the Discussions," he said.

As for the resumption of the work of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) in Gal, the Minister recalled that the IPRM is inactive due to the unconstructive position of the Georgian participants.

During the meeting with the Co-Chairs, Oleg Bartsits emphasized that the situation in Abkhazia is stable. The Republic is developing in various areas, and cooperation with the Russian Federation plays a leading role here.

"Fruitful cooperation with Russian strategic allies and partners is the key to our sustainable development. We regard our cooperation as global, comprehensive and intend to strengthen it," he said. He also stressed that Abkhazia will continue to expand contacts with the outside world, work on broad international recognition of the Republic as a sovereign and independent state.

The 64th round of the International Discussions on Security and Stability in the Transcaucasia (IDT) will be held on June 25-26.