Tbilisi Slams JCC Session in Moscow

Georgian Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze condemned on February 20 ongoing session of the Joint Control Commission (JCC) co-chairmen in Moscow which is held without participation of the Georgian side and accused the Russian side of ignoring Tbilisi.

She said that on February 17 Giorgi Khaindrava, the Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues, who represents the Georgian side in the JCC, was officially notified by the Russian side to hold the JCC session in Moscow, “however the date of this session was not specified.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry reported on February 20 that negotiator from Russia, South Ossetia and North Ossetia gathered in Moscow in frames of the JCC.

Nino Burjanadze also criticized the negotiating format.

“There are only two sides – Russian and Georgian [in JCC]. One side, which includes Russian, South Ossetian and North Ossetian [negotiators], gathered today in Moscow, while anther side – the Georgian one – does not participate in it… This should be one more confirmation for the international community that all our complaints [against the JCC] are absolute fair. I categorically urge our friends [partner states] not to let this fact lay without a proper reaction,” Nino Burjanadze said while speaking at a session of the Parliamentary Bureau.

The Georgian side refused to participate in the JCC session in Moscow after Russia turned down a proposal to hold talks in Vienna on February 20-21, as was initially scheduled. Russia cited the “necessity of being close to the conflict zone” as the reason for its refusal to hold a session of the JCC session in Vienna. In response, the Georgian side offered on February 20 to hold a JCC session either in Tbilisi or in the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali.