Abkhaz and South Ossetian leaders Sergey Bagapsh and Eduard Kokoity, respectively, said on November 17 in Moscow that they will be ready to resume talks with Tbilisi only after the Georgian side shows its willingness to sign an agreement on the non-use of force.
The Abkhaz leader said that Sokhumi also insists on the withdrawal of the pro-Tbilisi Abkhaz government-in-exile from the Georgian-controlled upper Kodori Gorge in Abkhazia.
?There will be no talks unless [Georgia] pulls out its troops and so-called government from upper Kodori Gorge,? Interfax news agency quoted Bagapsh as saying at a news conference in Moscow.
?We are offering the Georgian side to sign a memorandum on non-resumption of hostilities. If Mr. Saakashvili [the Georgian President] is ready to do this we are ready to meet him at any time,? South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity said.
The Georgian side says that it will sign a non-use of force agreement only after the internationalization of peacekeeping operations in the Abkhaz and South Ossetian conflict zones.
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