De Facto Minister of Occupied Abkhazia Responds to Zurabishvili

The de facto foreign minister of Georgia’s breakaway region of Abkhazia, Daur Kove said that the statement of President Salome Zurabishvili about the necessity of changing the format of Geneva International Discussions (GID) is worthless.

Kove said Georgia should sign the agreement on non-use of force with its two occupied territories Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

"Sadly, we see unconstructive approaches from the Georgian side," he added.

Last week President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili stated that GID, which represents the only format of an international dialogue between Georgia and Russia, needs to be changed into a higher-level of diplomatic and political dialogue.

“We cannot resolve our conflict with a format that merely addresses technical issues,” Zurabishvili tweeted.

Later on, President's Spokesperson Khatia Moistsrapishvili gave a more detailed explanation regarding Zurabishvili’s initiative.

“The President states that it is necessary to use all the existing formats related to the occupied territories and conflicts, and to use all tribunes in order that we and our partners regularly reminded the Russians of their obligations taken under various agreements,” she said.

Moiststapishvili added that the initiative does not mean that in the President’s mind the GID should be substituted by another mechanism.

The GID is held four times a year with co-chairmanship of the EU, UN and OSCE, and with the participation of Georgia, the Russian Federation and the USA. The representatives of the occupation regimes of Georgia’s breakaway Sokhumi and Tskhinvali regions also attend the meetings.

By Thea Morrison

Related story:

Georgian President Suggests Changing Format of Geneva Int’l Discussions