Tbilisi Insists on Direct Talks with Kokoev, Amid Clashes in South Ossetia

Two Georgian soldiers died and one civilian was wounded after heavy overnight fighting near the Georgian village of Eredvi.

Georgia appealed to the international community to hold “an urgent and special” international peace conference in order to stop sporadic overnight shootouts in breakaway South Ossetia which have already resulted in casualties and deaths for both conflicting sides. Georgia also called on the OSCE to hold an emergency session of the Permanent Council to discuss the situation in South Ossetia.

Two Georgian soldiers died and one civilian was wounded after heavy overnight fighting near the Georgian village of Eredvi in the conflict zone on August 16 which put an end to the short-lived ceasefire deal singed by the Georgian and South Ossetian sides on August 13. A total of five Georgian soldiers have been killed in the conflict zone over the past week. The South Ossetia side denied official Georgian reports that around 15 South Ossetian militias were killed during clashes on August 16.

Georgian Defense Minister Giorgi Baramidze, who has spent the last two days in the conflict zone, said at a news briefing in Tbilisi on August 16 that “the threat of war is real” in South Ossetia; however, he did add that the Georgian side will do its utmost to avoid military confrontation.

Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania said on August 16 that the situation in South Ossetia is “alarming” and accused “certain forces in Russia” of trying to engage Georgia in a large-scale armed confrontation.

He said that “many mercenaries from Russia’s North Caucasus republics” are among the militias fighting for the South Ossetian side. “Last night Georgian troops fired back and suppressed the enemy fire. As a result many of the mercenaries died,” he added.

Zhvania also said that the recent attacks by the South Ossetian militias and mercenaries on the Georgian troops’ positions aim at taking over by-pass roads which link Georgian villages in the Didi Liakhvi gorge with the Georgian controlled territories.

The road to Didi Liakhvi gorge lies within the separatist-controlled South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali while the roads by-passing Tskhinvali are controlled by the Georgian troops, enabling the Georgian side to have a link with the villages North of Tskhinvali populated by ethnic Georgians.

“These roads are of vital importance. These roads are the humanitarian corridor to deliver food to the Georgian villages of Didi Liakhvi gorge and we will not give up these roads,” Zurab Zhvania said.

Zhvania reiterated his readiness to negotiate with South Ossetian de facto President Eduard Kokoev. On August 13 Zhvania and Kokoev separately signed a ceasefire agreement without meeting each other.

Zhvania downplayed the South Ossetian and Russian sides’ proposal to hold an emergency session of the Joint Control Commission (JCC), a quadripartite body involving the Georgian, South Ossetian, Russia and North Ossetian sides. Zhvania said that it would be a “waste of time” and offered instead to have high level talks with the South Ossetian leader directly.

But Georgian State Minister Goga Khaindrava, who is in charge of conflict resolution issues, told reporters on August 16 that Kokoev is avoiding direct talks while “he tries to provoke a large-scale military confrontation.”

Prime Minister Zhvania said that “President Mikheil Saakashvili decided to appeal to the international community and hold a special international conference to find ways out of this situation.”

He also said that the Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy, has already welcomed Georgia’s initiatives.

The Georgian Prime Minister said that Tbilisi also wants the OSCE to hold an emergency session of the Permanent Council to discuss the situation in South Ossetia. “Both an international conference and a session of the OSCE Permanent Council should be held during the coming days, as soon as possible,” Zurab Zhvania added.