Toivo Klaar, the European Union Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia (EUSR) visited Tbilisi, Tskhinvali, and Sokhumi on June 6-10, where he met Georgian officials and the Kremlin-backed authorities of occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions.
During June 6 meeting with Georgian Security Service Chief Grigol Liluashvili, the parties discussed the humanitarian and security situation in Russian-occupied regions of Abkhazia and S. Ossetia, particularly underscoring the urgency of unconditionally releasing the arbitrarily detained Georgian citizens Zaza Gakheladze, Lasha Khetereli, Genadi Bestaev, and Irakli Bebua from custody.
According to the State Security Service, the parties also touched upon the situation along the occupation line, discussing the instruments for more efficiently using the active negotiation platforms of Geneva International Discussions (GID) and Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM).
In Tskhinvali, EU Special Representative Klaar met with Russia-backed S. Ossetian interlocutors led by Murat Jioev. According to Jioev, at the June 9 meeting, the S. Ossetian side expressed its discontent about the Geneva rounds “yielding practically no results,” while suggesting the EU Representative steps to increase effectivity of the negotiations.
Murat Jioev reiterated to Klaar Tskhinvali’s call for signing an agreement on non-use of force with Tbilisi. “We noted that the steps taken [in the past] were important, but they must be legally consolidated to produce a document with strong international guarantees,” Jioev concluded.
EU Special Representative Klaar also visited Sokhumi on June 10 in preparation for the 53rd Round of Geneva Talks, where he met Abkhaz “foreign minister” Daur Kove. According to Apsnypress media outlet, the parties talked about the importance of resuming IPRMs in Abkhazia’s eastern Gali district.
“The parties also discussed a number of issues related to regional security, including freedom of movement with documents issued in Abkhazia,” Apsnypress reported.
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