South Ossetian and Abkhazian representatives in Geneva convincingly substantiated the need to arrange their borders. In the absence of legal guarantees of non-use of force by Georgia it is vital for the security of their peoples and states, said the State Secretary - Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Grigory Karasin in an interview with "ITAR -TASS".
Speaking about the results of the recently held round of the Geneva talks on security in Transcaucasia, the diplomat said that in general, the talks had been held in a normal working atmosphere.
According to him, they discussed all the main issues on the agenda - security in the region, the situation at the border of Abkhazia and South Ossetia with Georgia, cooperation in the framework of joint mechanisms to prevent and respond to incidents (MPRI), humanitarian cooperation.
According to Karasin, the parties also exchanged views on the key theme of the Geneva format - the non-use of force in the region.
He has reminded that in August 2008, the presidents of Russia and France formulated the main objective of the international discussions as to "ensure the lasting security of Abkhazia and South Ossetia."
Karasin has stressed that this task is the keystone of the work group on security, noting that representatives of Tskhinval and Sukhum confirmed their justified demands on the preparation and conclusion of a legally binding peace agreements with Tbilisi.
On the negotiating table is also a Russian proposal to adopt a general declaration of all participants of the Geneva process on non-use of force.
"Taking into account a new president-elect of Georgia on October 27, we had some hope for a more flexible and constructive approach of the Georgian delegation. Unfortunately, these hopes were in vain. Apparently, Tbilisi still needs time for the final awareness of the inevitability of a peaceful ways of settlement the problems with neighboring states. We hope for a positive movement in this direction during the next round of discussions in the middle of December,"- said the diplomat.
Commenting on the statement of the co-chair of the Geneva talks, the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Philippe Lefort on default on by Russia the "cease- fire" agreement in 2008, made on the basis of the November round, Karasin has noted that the co-chairs of the Geneva discussions are authorized to be impartial in the approaches to the issues under discussion, and especially to restrain their public utterances.
"Experience shows that the undiplomatic statements, one- sided support for the position of one of the parties in the negotiating process, are not conducive to success. In this sense, I believe that Mr. Lefort seriously compromise the co-chair mission, "- said the Deputy Minister.
He has stressed that not any "ceasefire" agreement was signed after the failure of the Georgian aggression in August 2008.
"It could not have taken place, as Mr. Saakashvili since he ordered the attack on peacekeepers and civilians of Tskhinval has become for us persona non grata. There are only the August 12 Medvedev -Sarkozy agreements consisting of the six principles Plan for settlement of the conflict and measures for its implementation taken on September 8. One of the principles stipulated that "The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation must withdraw to the line preceding the outbreak of hostilities." This was fully accomplished by us on the night of October 10, 2008 "- reminded Karasin.
However, some proponents of the "territorial integrity of Georgia" continue to harp on that the presence of Russian military bases and border contingents in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, allegedly contradicts the mentioned agreements.
"They "forget" that today's Republic of Abkhazia and the Republic of South Ossetia are not longer the territories of Georgia, but the sovereign states recognized by the Russian Federation. So, the statements made by Mr. Lefort can only be compared with the worn-out record with a fake melody, "- said Karasin.
He has also noted that when last summer the UN General Assembly again voted "for extremely politicized and detached from the realities the Georgian draft resolution on refugees in the absence in the meeting room of the legitimate representatives of the republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the delegations of the republics refused to participate in duplicate debate on this topic at the Geneva talks."
In his opinion, this question is quite valid.
"However, the humanitarian group in Geneva continues to operate normally. On the agenda - the problems of socio-economic recovery of the region, the search for the missing persons, the satisfaction of the rights of all citizens of Abkhazia, Georgia and South Ossetia to education and health services around the world , "- concluded Karasin.
