At JCC, Tbilisi Pushes for Change in S.Ossetia Peace Format

The Georgian side has pushed for a change of the current negotiation format on the South Ossetian conflict at a session of the quadripartite Joint Control Commission (JCC) in Moscow on August 18, RIA Novosti news agency reported.

?Difficult talks are underway,? RIA Novosti quoted an unnamed South Ossetian source.

Merab Antadze, the Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues and a chief negotiator for South Ossetian issues, said on August 8 that Tbilisi was planning to officially push for the revision of the decade-long agreement with Russia that serves as the legal basis for the current Russian-led peacekeeping and negotiation arrangements for the South Ossetian conflict.

The Russian-dominated JCC, which was set up as a result of the 1992 agreement, unites negotiators from the Georgian, South Ossetian, Russian and Russia?s North Ossetian sides. The arrangement is currently the only negotiating body on the conflict, and has been criticized by Tbilisi as ineffective. The Russian and South Ossetian sides are against any changes in the current format.

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