The Geneva discussions on Transcaucasia, the 56th round of which was to be held at the end of March, have been put on hold on the initiative of the troika of co-chairs representing the UN, the EU and the OSCE, Konstantin Kochiev, the head of the South Ossetian delegation at the Geneva discussions, told reporters.
“In fact, the meeting within the framework of the 56th round has been postponed indefinitely. The reasons were not named directly, they can only be assumed here. A group of states, in the context of a set of discriminatory measures against Russia, created artificial logistical problems, however, even in these circumstances a solution could be found, but no proposals were received,” Kochiev noted.
He stressed that "the freeze of the format cannot but worry."
“Created under the agreements of Dmitry Medvedev and Nicolas Sarkozy (at that time, the presidents of Russia and France) in 2008, the Geneva discussions are “really the most important format of multilateral communication, thanks to which it was possible to maintain an acceptable level of security and stability, despite the sabotage by the Georgian party of the development of a legally binding document on the non-use of force."
The sagging of the Geneva process, Kochiev believes, creates certain risks. "Periodically, there are alarming reports about new steps in terms of building up the military potential of Georgia in cooperation with the NATO bloc. The statements of Western representatives for the opening of a new front by Georgia have been noted," he said.
According to Kochiev the South Ossetian party, is doing everything possible to support those elements of the Geneva process that can maintain their efficiency in the current situation. "First of all, these are IPRMs (incident prevention and response mechanisms), meetings within which are held on a regular basis. The telephone hotline between the parties is working smoothly, allowing to promptly respond to periodically arising misunderstandings at the border," Kochiev said.
International discussions on security and stability in Transcaucasia are held in Geneva since 2008 with the participation of Russia, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and the United States, mediated by the UN, the EU and the OSCE special representatives. The work is traditionally carried out in two working groups - on security and on humanitarian issues. The Geneva discussions remain the only platform for dialogue between Sukhum, Tskhinval and Tbilisi. The co-chairs of the Geneva international discussions on security in Transcaucasia are Toivo Klaar (EU), Annika Seder (OSCE) and Cihan Sultanoglu (UN).
