At the 52nd round of the Geneva discussions, an agreement was reached to work out individual statements by the leaders of states (South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Georgia) that these countries will not adhere to the use of force,” said Presidential Envoy for post-conflict settlement Murat Dzhioev.
According to Dzhioev, the work on a legally binding document on the non-use of force has been carrying out since 2008, and a lot of work has been done since then. “Initially, unilateral projects of all three party were prepared, in 2010 - unilateral statements by presidents of South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Georgia about their commitment not to use force. Although the statement of the then Georgian President Saakashvili does not mention either South Ossetia or Abkhazia. But in Geneva, the document was seen as an important step towards the development of a legally binding document. For several years we have been working on a joint statement by the participants in the Geneva Discussions that they have the authority to adhere to the principle of the non-use of force. But, unfortunately, the project, which resulted in the long discussions and was practically agreed in December 2017, in March 2018, due to the position of the delegations of Georgia and the United States, was not adopted,” the Envoy made a small excursion into history.
In his opinion, so that the work does not stop, the delegations of South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Russia proposed several options. He has added that the Geneva Discussions are a complex process.
“The delegations of South Ossetia and Abkhazia - on the one hand and Georgia - on the other one, have two completely different positions and visions of solving problems, to the extent that the Georgian delegation does not even utter the word -South Ossetia. And at this round, quite emotionally, I was forced to explain that such a position offends the people of South Ossetia. You are not ready to call us by our name, and then how can we hope that you are ready not to use weapons against South Ossetia?” the Plenipotentiary asked a question.
Murat Dzhioev stressed that the only guarantor could be a legally binding document on the non-use of force, signed between Georgia and South Ossetia, Georgia and Abkhazia, which would have firm international guarantees, which could be Russia - on the one hand, three international organizations, and on the other hand, the United States - for Georgia.
