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No Negotiating behind Russia’s Back
President of the unrecognized breakaway republic of South Ossetia Eduard Kokoity has again denied any possibility of negotiations with Georgia unless Russia is involved in them. “There can be no discussion of bilateral negotiations behind the back of Russia, which is sheltering our children and is the sole guarantor of peace. We are prepared for any meeting in the existing four-sided format,” Kokoity said at a meeting with military observers from the OSCE mission to Georgia and the leaders of the Tskhinvali office of that organization.
According to the unrecognized republic’s Information and Press Committee, Kokoity claimed that South Ossetia was also prepared to negotiate with Georgia, but only in the format of the Mixed Control Commission. “Attempts by the Georgian side to change the format are viewed by South Ossetia as attempts to break down the negotiation process and are destined for failure,” Kokoity said.
Kokoity also told OSCE representatives that the actions of the Ossetian side in the conflict zone “are of a retaliatory character against the buildup and deployment of armed formations on the Georgian side.” “I want to state that we will continue provide for the security of the citizens of the republic in its entirety and we will respond adequately to the action s of the Georgian side,” Kokoity said.
Georgian State Minister for Reintegration Teimuraz Yakobashvili told journalists today that the peace process may soon be restarted in the Tskhinvali area after negotiations with Russia, “not in the format of the so-called Mixed Control Commission,” he emphasized, “but in another format.”
Georgia has refused to negotiate a South Ossetia settlement in the Mixed Control Commission format, which it considers invalid and representative only of Russian interests. The Mixed Control Commission consists of cochairmen from Georgia, Russia, North Ossetia and South Ossetia.
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