Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of South Ossetia

On September 18 the Delegation of the Co-Chairmen of the Geneva international discussions on security in Transcaucasia paid a working visit to the Republic of South Ossetia.

The sides discussed issues related to the preparation of the next 21round of the Geneva discussions which will be held in October of 2012.

The South Ossetian side drew Co-Chairmen`s attention to the unresolved problem of setting a Georgian police checkpoint in the village of Zardiantkar adjacent to the South Ossetia state border which caused extreme concern among the local Ossetian population. Moreover, increasing of the number and armory of the police on Georgian positions around the perimeter of the border and replacement of police force by military personnel in some places is fraught with possible complication of the situation in the region. The task of the Geneva talks participants as well as the one of the EU Monitoring Mission is to prevent such developments.

Participants of the meeting agreed that the purpose of the Geneva talks was to exclude the possibility of military conflict renewal. In this regard, they stressed the need for more work on a legally binding instrument on non-use of force.

They also discussed issues related to the search for the missing persons in South Ossetia, and other humanitarian issues.

Today, President of the Republic Leonid Tibilov received the Geneva discussions co-chairs` delegation.
The delegation visited the Monastery of Tyre and villages north of Tskhinval.

Tskhinval, September, 18, 2012

08.11.2012