OREANDA-NEWS. November 13, 2009. The eighth meeting in the framework of international discussions on security and stability in Transcaucasia took place in Geneva on November 11. It was attended by delegations from the Republic of Abkhazia, Georgia, the Russian Federation, the United States of America and the Republic of South Ossetia and by the representatives of the EU, UN and OSCE. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs/State Secretary Grigory Karasin headed the Russian delegation.

The main discussion in the security working group focused on concrete issues in the maintenance of regional stability with emphasis on the nonuse of force. There was noted on the Russian side the urgent need to sign a legally binding agreement on the nonuse of force between Abkhazia and Georgia and between Georgia and South Ossetia.

All participants noted with satisfaction the regular conduct of meetings within the framework of the joint mechanisms to prevent and respond to incidents on the Georgian-Abkhaz and Georgian-South Ossetian borders and their positive impact on relations between the sides.

A discussion of the report of the Tagliavini Commission on the conflict in August 2008 took place at the initiative of the Abkhaz and South Ossetian sides. It was emphasized that its pivotal conclusion was in regard to the culprits of the aggression against South Ossetia.

The delegations of Abkhazia, Russia and South Ossetia continued discussing assistance to Georgian, Ossetian and Abkhaz refugees who left their homes over the entire period of armed confrontation in the region since 1989, and expressed the readiness to jointly search for ways to improve the humanitarian situation in the region.

The discussion in the two Geneva working groups, on security and on humanitarian themes, has shown that the Georgian side instead of constructive work prefers to continue its politicized rhetoric designed for rejection of the realities resulting from the aggression against South Ossetia.

The next meeting in Geneva is tentatively slated for January 28, 2010.