The Georgian and Abkhaz sides “engaged in constructive exchanges” with the Group of Friends of the UN Secretary General during a meeting in Geneva on February 12-13, the UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) said in a statement.
The meeting, which was held under the auspices of the Group of Friends, involving representatives from Germany, France, Great Britain, Russia and the United States, stressed the need for the sides to engage on security issues including in the Tbilisi-controlled upper Kodori Gorge.
“They [the Group of Friends] highlighted the need to refrain from any action that could impede progress or undermine confidence, and urged the sides to take into account one another’s sensitivities and to cooperate to deescalate tensions,” the statement by the UNOMIG reads.
“Acknowledging progress on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1716 (2006), the United Nations and the Group of Friends reaffirmed their support for a negotiated solution of the conflict in the framework of relevant resolutions of the Security Council.”
The Group of Friends has reaffirmed the right of internally displaced persons and refugees to return to Abkhazia and “in the first instance to Gali.”
During the Geneva talks the Georgian delegation was led by State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues Merab Antadze, while the Abkhaz delegation was led by de facto Foreign Minister Sergey Shamba.
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