No Conditions Yet for Dialogue with Sokhumi, Tskhinvali – Bakradze

Davit Bakradze, the parliamentary chairman, said on March 19, that although Tbilisi was willing to engage in dialogue with Sokhumi and Tskhinvali no such condition yet existed in the light of continued Russian occupation.

“The key word for Georgia is a dialogue,” he said at a meeting with a group of students from Ilia Chavchavadze University. “This is a dialogue within the country between the political forces; this is a dialogue with the international community and this is a dialogue with those people, who live beyond the temporary dividing lines, on the territories occupied by Russia… We are ready – and not only ready but we also want – to have a direct dialogue with those people, who live on the occupied territories, including with the representatives of the so called authorities or administrations.”

He, however, also said that dialogue needed “proper conditions, in which this dialogue will have a result.”

“Unfortunately, no such condition exists either in Abkhazia or in Tskhinvali because the both regions are occupied by the Russian Federation and all the key decisions are made in the Kremlin instead of Sokhumi or Tskhinvali. So, the first essential condition for creating the necessary environment for a dialogue is to ensure that Russia meets its commitments,” Bakradze said.

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