Moscow, Tbilisi Clarify Some Details of JCC Session

Russian chief negotiator on South Ossetia Yuri Popov accused Tbilisi of withdrawing from its previous commitments to launch the development of a joint program on peaceful conflict resolution along with the South Ossetian side, Russian news agencies reported on August 19.

Popov said that during the recent session of the Joint Control Commission (JCC) in Moscow on August 17-18, the Georgian side linked the development of this joint program, as it was agreed at the JCC session in May, with the necessity to change the current negotiating format.

?The Georgian side has actually disavowed its earlier consent to create a joint working group – to develop a joint program on [conflict] resolution based on well-known peaceful initiatives of the Georgian and South Ossetian leaderships,? RIA Novosti news agency quoted Popov as saying.

?The Georgian side has failed to show a willingness to compromise? We are seriously concerned over Tbilisi?s demonstrative withdrawal from its previous position,? he added.

Meanwhile, in a statement issued on August 19, the administration of the Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues said that the Georgian side pushed forth two major issues during the JCC session in Moscow:

? to launch the development of an agreed program on conflict resolution before September 1;

? to immediately start working on concrete proposals to broaden the current negotiating format and to create additional effective international guarantees. This process should be completed before the launch of rehabilitation programs in the conflict zone.

The Georgian State Minister?s Office stated that the Russian, South Ossetian and Russia?s North Ossetian side, which make up JCC together with the Georgian side, were against these proposals.

?As a result there was a failure to approve even the agenda of the session and discussion of key issues,? the statement reads.

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