JCC Thwarted as Tbilisi, Tskhinvali Fail to Agree on Venue

The South Ossetian side accused Tbilisi of thwarting a session of the quadripartite Joint Control Commission (JCC), which was proposed by the South Ossetian side, scheduled to be held in the breakaway region’s capital Tskhinvali on June 2.

The Georgian side refused to participate in the JCC session in Tskhinvali and instead offered to hold the meeting in Tbilisi.

But negotiators from the South Ossetian side refused to arrive in the Georgian capital, citing that the Georgian side can not guarantee their security.

“The Georgian side’s ‘invitation’ to hold the JCC in Tbilisi is a deliberate action aimed at thwarting this meeting,” Boris Chochiev, Deputy Chairman of the breakaway region’s government and Chief Negotiator for the South Ossetian side, said in a statement posted on the South Ossetian Press and Information web-site.

The South Ossetian side proposed to hold a session of the JCC, which involves negotiators from the Georgian, South Ossetian, Russian and North Ossetian sides, after the May 27 incident in the conflict zone.