The delegations of South Ossetia, Abkhazia and the Russian Federation supported the proposal of the co-chairs of the Geneva Discussions to resume discussion of the idea of a joint statement on the commitment to the principle of non-use of force.
As reported by the office of the Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy of the Republic of South Ossetia for Post-Conflict Settlement, at the 63rd round of negotiations, the South Ossetian party emphasized that such a statement could be a step towards a legally binding agreement guaranteeing the security of South Ossetia and Abkhazia from new armed aggression by Georgia.
On March 4-5, 2025, the UN Geneva Palace of Nations hosted the meetings of the 63rd round of the International Discussions on Security and Stability in Transcaucasia. The meeting was attended by delegations from South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Georgia, the Russian Federation, the United States, as well as the EU, UN and OSCE representatives.
The South Ossetian delegation was headed by State Advisor to President Konstantin Kochiev.
As reported by the office of the Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy, the main focus was on discussing current issues of regional security and ensuring stability.
The effectiveness of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) in the South Ossetian-Georgian border area and the hotline operating under it was once again emphasized.
“Noting the relative stability that remains along the border line, the South Ossetian delegation pointed to the facts of deliberate violation of the state border regime and provocations from the Georgian side. The representatives of South Ossetia once again called on the Georgian party to begin the joint work on the delimitation and demarcation of the state border,” the office of the Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy has noted.
The South Ossetian delegation urged to intensify the work to clarify the fate of the missing persons, noting the sabotage of the work on this issue by Georgia.
Once again, the most serious attention was drawn to Georgia's gross violations of the rights of the Ossetians - natives of the Kazbegi region, who for many years have been unable to access their homes and lands due to the policy of the Georgian authorities.
Once again, the South Ossetian representatives drew attention to the discriminatory visa practices of a number of countries in relation to residents of South Ossetia and proposed that the co-chairs contact the authorities of the relevant states to review their approaches to this problem.
The discussion of the refugee issue was not held at the meetings of the completed round. Resumption of discussions on the refugee issue will become possible after Georgia stops its attempts to unacceptably politicize this humanitarian problem.
All participants of the meeting noted the importance of the International Discussions on Security and Stability in Transcaucasia for the development of the dialogue on post-conflict settlement between the relevant parties and confirmed their commitment to this format.
The next round of International Discussions is scheduled for June 2025.
