Participants in the Geneva discussions could not advance on the issue of developing a legally binding document on the non-use of force against South Ossetia and Abkhazia, told reporters Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy of the Republic for post-conflict settlement Murat Dzhioev,
“Unfortunately, no new steps could be made in this direction. The Abkhaz colleagues proposed a new draft statement on the non-use of force, which is practically the same as the previous version. The Georgian party, in turn, again asked for time to study it,” said Dzhioev.
He has reminded that in December 2018, in Geneva, it was practically managed to agree on a joint statement of the participants in the discussions on adherence to the principle of the non-use of force.
“The statement would be a step towards the development of a legally binding document on the non-use of force against South Ossetia and Abkhazia,” the Plenipotentiary stressed. - Then the Georgian party asked for a time-out and discussed the project by phone for two and a half hours, after which it refused to accept it. And in March, the American delegation offered to make an addition to the draft which was unacceptable in its essence.”
According to the diplomat, the Georgian participants in the discussions spoke at this round for considering the draft proposed earlier by the American delegation.
“The Georgian party pursues the goal - to hold conversations in Geneva directly with Russia, we, in turn, each time emphasize that the Geneva discussions are designed to solve the relations between South Ossetia and Georgia, Abkhazia and Georgia,” said the Envoy. “That is, the Russian-Georgian, as well as the South Ossetian-Russian and the Abkhaz-Russian relations, are not the subject of discussion at the Geneva talks.”
