On February 18, preparatory consultations for the 66-th round of the International Discussions on Security and Stability in the Transcaucasus were held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Abkhazia. Representatives of the Abkhazian Foreign Ministry, Lasha Avidzba, Artur Gagulia, Sariya Dzhopua, and Levan Gadlia, participated in the consultations.

Representing the Co-Chairs were Tom Trier, EU Adviser on the South Caucasus; Emmanuel Anquetil, Political Adviser to the EU Special Representative; Tudor Campean, OSCE Conflict Prevention Centre Officer; Irina Egorova, UN Political Adviser; and Akylbay Eleusizov, Senior Officer in the UN Department of Political Affairs.

The key topics of discussion were the agenda items for the upcoming round of discussions and current regional security issues.

Opening the meeting, Lasha Avidzba noted that the Abkhaz side is open to substantive discussions on all issues and expresses hope for constructive dialogue.

"In turn, we reaffirm the need to hold another round of International Discussions on Security and Stability in Transcaucasia. This is an important platform for the Republic of Abkhazia and, unfortunately, the only one where we can discuss, defend our country's interests, and work on an agreement on the non-use of force," Avidzba noted.

The parties confirmed their desire and intention to work on a document on the non-use of force as the primary goal of the discussions. The issue of resuming of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) in Gal was once again raised by the meeting participants.

During the discussion, both sides emphasized the need to create conditions conducive to its revival. During the consultations, it was stated that the situation in the border zone is not a cause for concern and remains stable. "We, in turn, will unilaterally strengthen the entire state border, which should result in zero violations of the border crossing regime at unauthorized locations," noted Lasha Avidzba, Head of the Consular Department of the Abkhaz Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

The parties also discussed the agenda of the second working group, in particular, humanitarian issues. The 66th round of the International Discussions on Security and Stability in the Caucasus (IDS) is scheduled for March 18-19, 2026.