Minister Says Change of Formats Pushed in Moscow Talks

Temur Iakobashvili, the Georgian state minister for reintegration, said he was pushing for change of the current negotiating formats during talks in Moscow.

Iakobashvili arrived in Moscow for a two-day visit on May 16. He has already met with Grigory Karasin, the Russian deputy foreign minister; Valery Kenyakin, the Foreign Ministry’s special envoy and Yuri Popov, Russia’s chief negotiator over South Ossetia.

He said that Tbilisi’s drive to change the current negotiating format for the South Ossetian conflict did not aim at “driving the Russian side out” of the process.

Tbilisi announced in early March that it would no longer the Russian-dominated Joint Control Commission (JCC), the quadripartite negotiating format for South Ossetian conflict resolution. Tbilisi has instead proposed to replace the JCC, which currently involves negotiators from the Georgian, South Ossetian, Russian and Russia’s North Ossetian sides, with a new negotiating body based on a 2+2+2 formula. The North Ossetian side, according to this proposal, should be replaced by the Tbilisi-backed South Ossetian provisional administration, led by Dimitri Sanakoev, and the OSCE and EU should also be included.

“We want the new format to be set up under the aegis of the international organizations,” Iakobashvili said at a news conference in Moscow on May 16. “We think it would be wrong to say that we are driving Russians out [of the process] and we are bringing Europeans instead of them. I think that Russians are Europeans as well and on the other hand Russia’s presence [in the negotiating process] is important.”

Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, however, slammed on May 16 Tbilisi for its attempts to change the current negotiating formats.

“Instead of working within the mechanisms created with everyone’s consent and fulfilling its obligations assumed during the negotiation process, they are making attempts to internationalize the conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia,” Lavrov said.

Temur Iakobashvili also said that it was of huge importance to have regular contacts with the Russian side and his visit aimed that very purpose. “This is an important step towards mutual understanding,” Iakobashvili said. “Of course it does not mean that problems will be resolved, but it is a first important step.”

He also said that Tbilisi’s position about Russia’s WTO entry terms remained unchanged.

Georgia said in late April that it was suspending bilateral talks with Russia over WTO entry terms, until Russia reversed its decision on establishing legal links with breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

“Until this document that undermines Georgia’s right is revoked, it will be an obstacle for Russia’s WTO entry,” Iakobashvili said. “I know it is a very tough statement to make but it is a fact… The Georgian side will not change its opinion. We cannot talk about trade regimes when there are sanctions against Georgia in place, when an attempt to annex Georgian territory is underway.”