OREANDA-NEWS. July 1, 2009. A sixth round of international discussions on security and stability in Transcaucasia conducted since last October on the basis of the agreements of the Presidents of Russia and France reached after the repulsion of Georgia’s aggression against South Ossetia in August 2008, is scheduled to be held in Geneva on July 1. The delegations of the Republic of Abkhazia, Georgia, the Russian Federation, the United States, the Republic of South Ossetia and representatives of the EU, UN and OSCE take part in Geneva meetings on an equal basis. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs/State Secretary Grigory Karasin heads the Russian delegation.

The July meeting will take place in complicated conditions. Contrary to Russia’s constructive and transparent stand in favor of preserving the OSCE and UN field missions in Transcaucasia, the western partners and Georgia are doing everything possible to wind up the work of international observers in this troubled region. Yet the situation on the borders remains tense: the Georgian side is continuing maneuvers of its armed forces and police near the borders of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Against the background of a lingering domestic political instability in Georgia and the further worsening of the socioeconomic position of its population, this is fraught with a new outbreak of tension.

In the run-up to the meeting, the Russian side held thorough consultations with its Sukhum and Tskhinval allies and the EU representatives. Obviously the new situation obtaining in Transcaucasia requires serious rethinking, inter alia, with respect to the format and prospects of Geneva discussions. We mean to raise all accumulated questions before the July round participants. In these conditions the need for conclusion of binding documents on the nonuse of force between Georgia, and the Republic of Abkhazia and the Republic of South Ossetia is acquiring even greater significance. The world community must have firm guarantees that the terrible tragedy of last August does not recur in the Transcaucasian region.