On 17 February, 2012, co-chairmen of Geneva talks on Security in Transcaucasia paid a working visit to the Republic of South Ossetia. The delegation was met by South Ossetia participants of Geneva talks.
In the course of the meeting they discussed questions related to the preparation of the 19th round of Geneva talks which is planned to take place on 28-29 March, 2012. South – Ossetia participants underlined their readiness to constructive work at the forthcoming round of Geneva talks.
And again, the attention of the co-chairmen was directed to the necessity of the development and signing of the legally binding document on non-use of force against South Ossetia by Georgia.
The representatives of the Republic of South Ossetia mentioned the efficient work of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) which has been set up in the frames of Geneva talks. A practice of mutual transmission of the prisoners and detainees was positively appreciated. This positive trend should be continued in future. They also marked the improvement of the situation on the South Ossetia and Georgia boundary and the reduction of the violation of state boundary. The parties concentrated their attention on strengthening efforts on searching the missing citizens of South Ossetia.
By-turn, EU co-chairman of Geneva talks Philipp Lephor, mentioned the importance of the continuation of the meetings in the frames of Geneva talks. He said in particular: ‘We are middlemen between South Ossetia and Georgia and we try to be the honest middlemen so that they could trust us. There is a hope for positive forward movement on security and stability problems and humanitarian issues.’
They also discussed the issues of humanitarian character.
Tskhinval, 17 February 2012