Participants of Geneva Discussions on Abkhazia exchange reproaches for breakdown of negotiations

On December 7-8, the 55th round of the International Geneva Discussions on Security and Stability in the Transcaucasus was held in Geneva, which gathered representatives of Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Georgia, Russia, and the United States took part under the co-chairmanship of the UN, EU, and OSCE.

The Abkhazian side accused Georgia of disrupting the coordination of the text of the document on international guarantees of the non-use of force. The Abkhazian delegation also expressed its concern about the Georgia’s military cooperation with the United States and NATO, the presence of US warships in the Black Sea, “constant violation of the airspace of the Republic of Abkhazia by foreign civil and military vessels.”

In turn, Lasha Darsaliya, Deputy Foreign Minister of Georgia, said that the Russian delegation left the negotiating table as soon as the question about the return of refugees to Abkhazia arose. The diplomat emphasized that the positions of the parties on the security issue remain fundamentally opposite. According to Lasha Darsaliya, Georgia expects Russia to start implementing the six-point agreement, which should become the basis for a comprehensive settlement of the conflict. “Unfortunately, we do not see such an approach on the part of the Russian delegation,” noted Lasha Darsaliya as quoted on the website of the Georgian “First Channel” on the evening of December 8.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 9, 2021 at 03:49 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.