Another round of Geneva talks ends in no result - Georgian Foreign Ministry

According to the results of the regular round of Geneva talks, the parties failed to agree on a declaration of non-use of force. Head of the Georgian delegation, Deputy Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani told reporters this declaration was no substitute for commitment on the part of Russia not to use force.

"The regular round of talks which mainly addresses issues specified by the format has ended. Firstly, it covered issues of security and the declaration of non-use of force which was presented by the co-chairs.Our position is one of principle: the declaration will not in any case replace the obligation on the part of Russia not to use force. Discussions also touched on security on-site, both in the South Ossetia separatist region of Georgia and Abkhazia. Attention was paid to the construction of the so-called frontier military infrastructure along the administrative border. It was noted that this factor poses a particular threat to the movement of the population and artificially created barriers that should be removed. Considerable attention was given to humanitarian issues and the return of refugees," Zalkaliani said.

According to him, an informal informative meeting was held at the end of the day.

The next round of Geneva talks will be held on June 25-26. The Geneva talks were convened after the armed conflict in Georgia in August 2008, in accordance with the ceasefire agreement of 12 August.

Large scale military actions were launched in South Ossetia on August 8, 2008. Later, Russian troops occupied Tskhinvali and expelled the Georgian military. Russia recognised the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in late August. In response, Tbilisi ended diplomatic relations with Moscow and has called the two unrecognised republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia occupied territories.


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