58th Round of Geneva International Discussions

The 58th round of the Geneva International Negotiations was held on July 11-12, 2023.

The Geneva International Discussions/GID were established on the basis of the ceasefire agreement of August 12, 2008, brokered by the European Union. GID are co-chaired by representatives of OSCE, EU, and UN, and involve participants from Georgia, Russia, and the U.S., as well as members of both the exiled Georgian administrations of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia and the two regions’ Russian-backed authorities, in their personal capacities. Sessions are held in two working groups, with the first group discussing peace and security matters, and the second – humanitarian concerns. The main issues discussed at the GID are the implementation of the ceasefire agreement, the safe and dignified return of internally displaced persons and refugees to their homes, and the security and humanitarian problems created as a result of the Russian occupation. 

GID Co-Chairs’ Assessment

The GID Co-chairs noted in the press-communiqué on the results of the GID round that “this was the second round held this year in a continued highly challenging regional and geopolitical environment.” They noted that “the participants reaffirmed their commitment to the process and key role played by the GID as the only platform where the conflict consequences are addressed” and expressed appreciation for this shared commitment.

The press-communiqué reads that “non-use of force/international security arrangements, as one of the key items of the GID, were discussed in detail.” All participants actively engaged on the issue, but without reaching a common understanding on the way forward.

The humanitarian situation on the ground was broadly reviewed, according to the Co-chairs. The issue of internally displaced persons and refugees could not be fully covered as per the agenda “due to a walkout by some participants.”

Positions Taken: Georgia

According to the information by the Georgian Foreign Ministry, during the negotiations, the Georgian delegation focused on the need for full compliance by Russia with the international obligations assumed under the ceasefire agreement of August 12, 2008, and the safe and dignified return of displaced persons and refugees from the occupied territories to their homes.  

The Georgian delegation also “raised the acute security and humanitarian problems stemming from the Russian occupation, such as illegal military exercises, the construction of barbed wire and other artificial barriers along the occupation line, illegal detentions and abductions, human rights violations and ethnic discrimination of Georgians”. The need to solve them was emphasized.

The Ministry notes that due to the destructive position of the representatives of Russia and the occupying regimes, the discussion on the safe and dignified return of internally displaced persons and refugees expelled from the occupied territories as a result of ethnic cleansing to their homes, did not take place. As soon as the discussion of the issue started, the participants from Moscow, Sokhumi and Tskhinvali politicized the topic and walked out.

Positions Taken: Russia, Sokhumi and Tskhinvali participants

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the Russian, Abkhaz and South Ossetian participants “emphasized the priority of starting substantive work on concluding a legally binding agreement” on the non-use of force between Tbilisi on the one hand and Sokhumi and Tskhinvali on the other. The Russian Foreign Ministry statement said: “The relevance of such a document is growing, especially against the background of the ongoing US and NATO military training activities in the Transcaucasus, as well as the plans for Georgia’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which remain in force.”

The press release said that according to the participants, “the situation in the border area as a whole remains stable” due to the restraint shown by the parties, as well as the stable operation of the “hot lines” and the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) on the Georgian-South Ossetian border in the Ergneti settlement.

The next step should be the resumption of the activities of a similar IPRM in the Gali [near Abkhaz occupation line] settlement, the release said, adding that “strengthening stability and predictability on the ground could be facilitated by launching the process of delimitation of the Georgian-Abkhazian and Georgian-South Ossetian borders, with their subsequent demarcation.”

Regarding the work of the second working group, the Russian Foreign Ministry noted that it “continues to be hampered by Georgia’s annual politicized UN General Assembly resolution on internally displaced persons and refugees”. And complained that “the representatives of Abkhazia and South Ossetia are still denied access to the New York platform to present their countries’ principled positions on this issue”.

The Abkhaz so-called “foreign ministry” said that “the delegation of the Republic of Abkhazia once again appealed to the Georgian participants with a proposal to begin full-fledged work on agreeing the text of a legally binding document on international guarantees on the non-use of force” adding that the Georgian delegation “once again continue to block any proposal to agree on the text of a document on the non-use of force.” It was noted, the statement says, “that the situation in the region remained relatively calm and stable.”

The Abkhaz source says that the need to resume the work of the IPRM in the city of Gali was noted and that “Abkhaz side reaffirmed its commitment to the resumption of the work of this mechanism, but the Georgian delegation did not respond to the proposals of the Abkhaz participants aimed at unblocking the work of the IPRM.”

The release says that “the Abkhaz side once again raised the problem of freedom of movement for citizens of the Republic of Abkhazia. The humanitarian issues related to access to education, medical care and a number of other pressing problems were also discussed.”

Tskhinvali similarly to Moscow and Abkhaz representatives reported on the “destructive position” of Georgia on the non-use of force agreement with the occupation regimes, adding that “as an equally important issue for regional security, the South Ossetian and Russian sides consider delimitation followed by demarcation with Georgia, which would minimize the risk of escalating tensions through illegal border crossings.”

Tskhinvali representatives noted the effective functioning of the IPRM Ergneti. They also raised the issue of the missing persons and refused to discuss the return of IDPs and refugees due to the “politicized step” of tabling the resolution on IDPs in UNGA stressing that “the resumption of discussions on the topic of refugees will become possible after Georgia stops its attempts to artificially politicize this problem.”

The 59th round of the GID is scheduled for December 2023.

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