On April 4-5, 2024, the 60th round of the International Geneva Discussions on Security and Stability in the Transcaucasus took place in Geneva, in which representatives of the Republic of Abkhazia, the Republic of South Ossetia, Georgia, the Russian Federation and the United States took part co-chaired by the UN, EU and OSCE.
The Abkhaz delegation was headed by Irakli Tuzhba, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Abkhazia.
The delegation also included Lasha Avidzba, the head of the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Abkhazia, Arthur Gagulia, the head of the Department of the Middle East and Africa of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Abkhazia and Batal Dzhopua, the deputy of the People's Assembly-Parliament of the Republic of Abkhazia.
During the next round, the Abkhaz delegation again focused on the need to sign a legally binding document on international guarantees of the non-use of force. The coordination and signing of this document is a key issue on the agenda of the IGD format.
Unfortunately, the destructive position of the Georgian participants does not allow them to begin full-fledged work on a document on international security guarantees. This key issue on the agenda remains open.
The meeting participants noted that the situation in the region and in the border zone retains signs of stability and is characterized as relatively calm. The need was also noted to begin the delimitation procedure and further demarcation of the Abkhaz-Georgian state border, which will help ensure security on the ground.
The Abkhaz side confirmed its interest in resuming the work of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) in the city of Gal as one of the important elements of ensuring local security. However, all attempts to revive the work of this security mechanism on the ground do not receive support from the Georgian participants.
As part of the work of the second working group, a number of humanitarian issues were discussed. In particular, the Abkhaz side once again focused attention on the problem of international isolation and freedom of movement around the world. Despite all the calls to pay attention to this important humanitarian problem, the situation in this area continues to worsen.
A number of other humanitarian issues were also discussed during the round.
The next, 61st round of the International Geneva Discussions on Security and Stability in the Transcaucasus is scheduled for June 25-26, 2024.