Sides Note Positive Momentum in S.Ossetia Talks Despite Disagreements

Although the Georgian side admitted that South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity’s proposal over conflict resolution has added positive momentum to the peace process, officials in Tbilisi say that the Russian side continues to try to misuse these proposals to drag-out the negotiating process.

Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues Giorgi Khaindrava offered on January 3 to hold a session of the quadripartite Joint Control Commission (JCC), involving the Georgian, South Ossetian, Russian and Russia’s North Ossetian sides, in Tbilisi before January 20 in an attempt to maintain positive momentum in the negotiating process.

The most recent session of the JCC was held in Moscow on December 27-28 where discussion of Kokoity’s proposals topped the agenda.

The South Ossetian side’s position, which is backed by the Russian side, is to set up a joint working group in frames of the JCC before February, 2006 which, according to the final protocol of the Moscow session, will “develop an agreed project of a joint [peace] program, which will become a basis for discussion by top political leaders of the parties concerned, as it was proposed during the JCC session in Ljubljana on November 15-16, 2005.”

The Russian and South Ossetian sides both proposed at the JCC session in Ljubljana to hold talks between the Georgian and Russian Presidents, with the participation of the South Ossetian and North Ossetian leaders. The proposal was fiercely rejected by Tbilisi.
The Georgian side’s position is, as put in the final protocol of the Moscow session, to set up a joint working group in frames of the JCC which will be submitted to the JCC co-chairmen before February 1, 2006.

The one major difference between the Georgian and South Ossetian/Russian positions is that Tskhinvali, backed by Moscow, continues to push to develop a new peace plan while the Georgian side tries to implement the original Action Plan voiced by PM Zurab Nogaideli in October, 2004.

State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues Giorgi Khaindrava explained on January 3 that the Georgian side does not deem it necessary to set up a separate working group which will deal with demilitarization and confidence building issues.

“All the sides [of the negotiating process] fully agree on these two issues and we can start working over them without setting up separate working groups,” Khaindrava said, adding that a separate working group can be set up to deal with those issues which trigger controversy between the sides – including a final political solution to the conflict.

Otherwise, this proposal to set-up a working group before February 1 is “just an attempt to drag-out the process,” according to Khaindrava.

The Russian side has protested Tbilisi’s approach. According to Moscow’s position, the Georgian side proposed to set up a working group which will only deal “with consideration of the ‘project on joint actions’ to implement certain peace plan, which as if already exists.”

Meanwhile, in his New Year’s address South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity said that this positive reaction towards his peaceful initiative by all the sides engaged in the negotiating process triggers hope that 2006 will be marked by “a positive dynamic” in respect to conflict resolution.

But the peace talks may be overshadowed by upcoming presidential elections in South Ossetia, scheduled for sometime in 2006.  Kokoity also said in his New Year’s address that these elections make 2006 “special and crucial for South Ossetia.”

“It is not difficult to forecast that our enemies will undertake all possible measures to provoke chaos and to destabilize the situation in the Republic… But I have no doubt that we will be able to successfully pass this test with political maturity and prove the supremacy of democratic values in our State,” Kokoity added.