Russian Envoy: Georgia’s Stance on JCC ‘Lightweight, Superficial’

Russian chief negotiator on South Ossetia Yuri Popov told RIA Novosti that official Georgian statements on ceasing the work of the Joint Control Commission (JCC) were “lightweight and superficial.”

Popov said the only way for Georgia to cease the operation of the JCC was to officially withdraw from the so-called “Dagomis accords” concluded between Russia and Georgia in 1992. As the agreement does not set termination procedures, “Georgia should first officially announce its decision to withdraw from the agreement and conduct negotiations on this issue with Russia, as a signatory to the agreement. This issue can also be addressed in the international courts,” the Russian diplomat said.

“The format of the JCC is maintained, notwithstanding what [Temur] Iakobashvili [Georgia’s state minister for re-integration] says about it,” Popov added. He stressed that of course Georgia was free to no longer participate, but the JCC would continue to operate. “Tomorrow I will speak with him [Iakobashvili] about it; let’s see what he has to say. We have things to tell him,” Popov concluded.

Iakobashvili proposed on February 29 to replace the JCC with a new negotiating body involving Russia, the South Ossetian secessionist authorities, Georgia, the Tbilisi-backed South Ossetian provisional administration, the OSCE and the EU. Iakobashvili then announced on March 4 that the Georgian side would no longer particiapate in the JCC.

A Georgian withdrawal from the 1992 Dagomis Agreement (also known as the Sochi Agreement) would also result in the current peacekeeping operation in the South Ossetian conflict zone being scrapped. Russian troops are stationed in South Ossetia as part of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces (JPKF), which also involves Georgian and Ossetian servicemen.