Negotiations on stability and security in Caucasus to start in Geneva

A Georgian delegation has today left for Geneva to attend the seventeenth round of international discussions on security and stability in the Caucasus. The Georgian delegation is headed by Deputy Secretary of the Security Council Giga Bokeria.

As the Georgian delegation's member, Georgian Interior Ministry's Analysis and Information Department head Shota Utiashvili told journalists before departure at the Tbilisi Airport, that in Geneva the Georgian side intends to raise the issue of the safe return and stay of ethnic Georgians expelled from their homes in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

"We will raise the issue of their deserved accommodation and security, as this is the traditional issue," he said.

The meetings within the Geneva process scheduled for Oct.3-4, are attended by representatives from Georgia, Russian Federation, the United States, the de facto authorities of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as well as the UN, OSCE and the EU.

The Russian delegation is headed by State Secretary - Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin.

The Russian side said that the priority at the Geneva talks is to ensure the lasting security of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in terms of creating a new system of "interstate" relations, the reliable prevention of armed recurrences and "revenge attempts" in the South Caucasus.

"As before, the issue of the nonuse of force between the republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia has still not been not fully resolved, nor has it been with Georgia. The Russian side, as is known, stands ready to act as a guarantor of peace, stability and security in the region," Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.


/Trend/