Tskhinvali, Tbilisi Communicate through Russian Mediator

Russian diplomat Valery Kenyaikin, who carries out shuttle diplomacy between Tbilisi and Tskhinvali, said on September 23 that the prospects for peace in the region is promising. But it remains unclear when the Georgian and South Ossetian sides will resume talks to defuse tensions, which escalated after a mortar attack on Tskhinvali on September 20. Meanwhile, President Saakashvili announced that has Georgia set up a governmental council which will be in charge of coordinating Tbilisi’s South Ossetian policy.

The Russian Foreign Ministry sent its special envoy Valery Kenyaikin, who is Russia’s chief negotiator for the South Ossetian issues, to Georgia shortly after the tensions escalated in the conflict zone, in an attempt to show that it is still playing a leading role in the peace process. After visiting Tbilisi on September 22, where the Russian diplomat held talks with Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues Giorgi Khaindrava, Valery Kenyaikin traveled to the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali and met with local leader Eduard Kokoity.

“The situation [in the conflict zone] is not easy, it is difficult. The situation especially deteriorated after the shelling of Tskhinvali [son September 20]. In this regard, Eduard Kokoity has requested me to deliver some ideas and thoughts to [the Georgian Prime Minister] Zurab Nogaideli… We are working and there are prospects that the peace process will not be ceased. This is our principled position. The JCC [Joint Control Commission – the Russian-led quadripartite arrangement in the peace process] remains, and will be, a real tool for stabilizing the situation,” Russian diplomat Kenyaikin said after talks with the South Ossetian leader on September 23.

Eduard Kokoity articulated Tskhinvali’s position through a statement issued by the South Ossetian Press and Information Committee after talks with the Russian diplomat.

Kokoity demanded “solid security guarantees” from Georgia and accused Tbilisi of shelling Tskhinvali on September 20. He said that the South Ossetian side had to suspend its participation in the JCC after this incident and demanded that Georgia “acknowledge the fact [that they target] the peaceful population [in the conflict zone].”

Kokoity also played on Russian fears of internationalization of the peace process by saying the “[political] attacks [by the Georgian side] on [Russian] peacekeepers and the use of armaments from NATO countries during the shelling proves an attempt to push Russia out [from the peace process] and the unwillingness [of Georgia] to continue negotiations.”

Details of the talks between the Russian diplomat Valery Kenyaikin and the Georgian leadership on September 23 have not been disclosed. But after these talks, the Georgian President convened the National Security Council to discuss the situation in South Ossetia.

President Saakashvili said that a Coordination Council, chaired by Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli, will be set up to coordinate the Georgian side’s policy to peacefully solve the South Ossetian conflict. He also hailed a statement issued by the U.S. Department of State and expressed hope that the United States will play a more active role in helping to resolve this conflict.

“We should all work in order to prevent provocations directed against the Georgian state. We have decided to set up a coordination council … This group should carry out coordination every minute of every day in order to – despite the fact that the separatist side provocatively says no to dialogue – force them [the South Ossetian side] to carry out dialogue, to force them to talk about a peaceful resolution [of the conflict],” President Saakashvili said, while addressing the National Security Council members.

He said that State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues Giorgi Khaindrava, Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili, Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili and Secretary of the National Security Council Gela Bezhuashvili will also be members of the Coordination Council.

He also commented on the statement made by the U.S. Department of State on September 22 in which Washington urged Russia “in respect of Georgia’s territorial integrity, to refrain from support of the unrecognized South Ossetian leadership.”

“It is very important that our friends – Americans – are starting to become involvement in this [peace] process, [it is important] that they support peaceful dialogues and a peaceful process. Also [it is important] that for the first time in recent years a public call has been made [by the United States] to stop supporting separatists from abroad. I think this is a very important moment. The [U.S.] Department of State has made a statement for the first time, which says that support of separatists by Russia should end once and for all,” Saakashvili said.

But Saakashvili did not comment on that part of the statement which condemns the mortar attack on the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali which wounded ten civilians on September 20. The U.S. Department of State called on Georgia “to take immediate steps to demonstrate its commitment to a peaceful settlement of the South Ossetia conflict, including by immediately bringing to justice those responsible for this unjustifiable act of violence against innocent civilians.”

According to the press office of the Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues, an investigation is being carried out by the Joint Peacekeeping Forces, involving Georgian, Russian and North Ossetian troops are underway. The OSCE is acting as a monitoring body during the investigation. The OSCE will be briefed by the parties concerned about the investigation process.