In a statement released on October 6, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia expressed concern over the disruption of the 51st Round of the Geneva International Discussions (GID) – scheduled for October 6-7 – by the representatives of Russia and called upon Moscow to return to the negotiations.
According to the MFA of Georgia, Russia’s refusal to participate in negotiations undermines “the entire peace process” in occupied territories, and hinders “the Georgian Government’s and international community’s efforts to solve the problems of the conflict effected population.”
The MFA also appealed to the EU, the UN, and the OSCE, the international organizations co-chairing the GID to “ensure the resumption of the negotiations” and to “facilitate achieving tangible progress in the process of peaceful resolution of the Russia-Georgia conflict.”
On their part, the Co-Chairs of GID, Toivo Klaar, Cihan Sultanoğlu and Rudolf Michalka from the EU, the UN and OSCE, respectively, noted “with regret that it was not possible to hold the scheduled round of discussions… since not all participants were able to attend.”
The Co-Chairs stated that “face-to-face meetings are critical to prevent security incidents and respond to humanitarian needs, especially at a time when there are worrying developments in the region and a surge of the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide.”
The GID Co-Chairs reckoned the next round of negotiations will be postponed to December 2020.
The previous round of the talks was held in December 2019. The upcoming 51st round, initially set to take place on 31 March – 1 April, 2020, was first postponed amid coronavirus pandemic fears.
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