Geneva, 6 March 2025
On 4-5 March 2025, the 63rd round of the International Discussions on Security and Stability in the Transcaucasia took place at the UN Palace of Nations in Geneva. The meeting was attended by delegations from the Republic of South Ossetia, the Republic of Abkhazia, Georgia, the Russian Federation, the United States, as well as representatives of the EU, the UN and the OSCE. The South Ossetian delegation was headed by K.K. Kochiev, State Counsellor to the President of the Republic of South Ossetia.
The main focus was on discussing current issues of regional security and stability. The effectiveness of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) along the South Ossetian-Georgian border and its hotline was once again emphasized. While noting the relative stability on the border line, the South Ossetian delegation pointed to the facts of deliberate violation of the State border regime and provocations on the Georgian side. The South Ossetian representatives once again called on the Georgian side to begin joint work on the delimitation and demarcation of the State border between South Ossetia and Georgia.
The delegations of South Ossetia, Abkhazia and the Russian Federation supported the Co-Chairs' proposal to resume the discussion of the idea of a joint statement of commitment to the principle of non-use of force. On the South Ossetian side, it was emphasized that such a statement could be a step towards a legally binding agreement guaranteeing the security of the Republic of South Ossetia and the Republic of Abkhazia against new armed aggression by Georgia.
The South Ossetian delegation urged to step up efforts to clarify the fate of the missing persons, noting the sabotage of work on this problem by Georgia.
Once again the most serious attention was drawn to the gross violations by Georgia of the rights of Ossetians, natives of the Kazbeg district, who for many years have been barred from gaining access to their homes and lands because of the policy of the Georgian authorities.
The representatives of South Ossetia once again drew attention to the discriminatory visa practices of a number of countries towards the residents of South Ossetia and proposed the Co-Chairs to address the authorities of the relevant states to reconsider their approaches to this problem.
There was no discussion on the refugee issue at the meetings of the latest round. Resumption of discussions on the refugee issue will be possible after Georgia stops its attempts of unacceptable politicization of this humanitarian problem.
All participants of the meeting noted the importance of the International Discussions on Security and Stability in the Transcaucasia for the development of dialogue on post-conflict settlement between the respective sides and reaffirmed their commitment to this format. The next round of the International Discussions is scheduled for June 2025.