The information spread by the Georgian side that during the preparatory meeting within the frames of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) in Dvani on 14 August “the Ossetian side confirmed that the fire was opened from the Ossetian side” does not correspond to reality.
“I would like to state that such misinterpretation of the counterpart’s words does not help in lifting the tensions at the borderline and casts doubts on the necessity to hold the working groups’ meetings”, stated Merab Chigoev, the Deputy Special Representative for Post-Conflict Settlement.
”On 14 August, after a long break caused by the destructive positions of the Georgian side and the EUMM, a preparatory meeting of South Ossetia’s and Georgia’s working groups was held in Dvani, Kareli district of Georgia. The meetings are taking place within the frames of the IPRM to react ot problems at the borderline between South Ossetia and Georgia. Upon the initiative of the South Ossetian side, issues related to presidency at these mettings, as well as the fate of our citizens detained, according to our data, by the security structures of Georgia. It is worth reminding that due to destructive position of Georgia and the EUMM, we had to suspend out participation in these meetings”, said Chigoev. He underlined that the sides’ positions towards most disputed issues remained unchanged, and “we stated that these questions should be considered at Geneval talks.” The next IPRM meeting was scheduled for 4 September 2009.
