Sides Agree on Ceasefire, Demilitarization

JCC co-chairs: (from left to right) Russia’s special envoy Lev Mironov, South Ossetian Special Affairs Minister Boris Chochiev, Teimuraz Kusiev of North Ossetia and Georgian State Minister Goga Khaindrava. Tbilisi, August 17.

At the meeting of the quadripartite Joint Control Commission (JCC) in Tbilisi on August 17,  the Georgian, South Ossetian, Russian and North Ossetian sides, agreed on a ceasefire. The sides also agreed to demilitarize the South Ossetian conflict zone and to ensure free movement of people.

This is the second ceasefire agreement in four days. The August 13 ceasefire deal was violated immediately after the agreement was signed.

Georgian State Minister Goga Khaindrava, who represents the Georgian side at the JCC, told the reporters after the talks “the next three days will be crucial” to assess whether the South Ossetian side is willing to preserve peace in the region.

Khaindrava said that the sides agreed to withdraw all unauthorized forces from the conflict zone. Only the troops which are part of the joint – Russian, Georgian and Ossetian – peacekeeping forces should remain the region.

A handshake agreement also envisages free movement of people in the conflict zone. The Georgian authorities fear that the South Ossetian side might capture the vital by-pass road which links the rest of Georgia with Georgian villages north of the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali.

The agreement was reached during a meeting between the co-chairmen of the JCC and Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania. South Ossetian Special Affairs Minister Boris Chochiev, Russian Foreign Ministry’s special Ambassador Lev Mironov and Teimuraz Kusiev of Russia’s North Ossetian Republic, as well as Head of the OSCE Mission to Georgia Roy Reeve participate in talks.

State Minister Khaindrava also told reporters that should the agreement is not be implemented within three days, the Georgian side will refuse to pull out its extra troops from the conflict zone. South Ossetian representative Boris Chochiev stated that the co-chairmen of the JCC will hold talks with South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoev in Tskhinvali on August 18.

“I think he [Kokoev] will not be against holding direct talks with Prime Minister Zhvania,” Chochiev said. The Georgian side insists on bilateral talks between Kokoev and Zhvania.

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian)