FM: Moscow Tries to Undermine Geneva Talks

Moscow tries to undermine Geneva talks using its “puppets” in Sokhumi, Grigol Vashadze, the Georgian foreign minister, said on June 24.

In an English-language statement released on June 23, the Abkhaz leader’s senior aide said Sokhumi was “temporarily withdrawing" from Geneva talks, as negotiations launched after the August war "have not produced tangible progress."

“It is an outstanding example that Russia does not need peace, stability and security in South Caucasus and Georgia. The so called government of Abkhazia is simply a puppet in the hands of Moscow,” the Georgian Foreign Minister told journalists. 

“The international community will have to exert pressure on Russia to make it – not Abkhazia but Russia – return to Geneva talks and to stop attempts of destruction of this only existing format of peace talks,” Vashadze said.

The next, twelfth round of Geneva talks, launched after the August war, is scheduled for July 27.

Sokhumi said in the statement, which mainly is addressed to co-mediators of Geneva talks – EU, OSCE and UN, that it would return to Geneva talks after co-mediators present a document “that includes propositions from all of the parties and enables open discussion and debate." The statement does not give specifics, but says that “the co-moderators have consistently failed to facilitate the talks in a constructive and impartial manner.”

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