MOSCOW, August 6 (Itar-Tass) —— The problem of refugees from Abkhazia and South Ossetia cannot be discussed at the United Nations because of the position taken by Georgia and the United States, Russian State Secretary and Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said on Monday in an exclusive interview with Itar-Tass.
“A problem can be discussed seriously only when all parties and points of view are duly represented,” he said. “Regrettably, a possibility to discuss in a substantial and realistic manner the problem of refugees and forced migrants at the United Nations is now closed by joint efforts of Tbilisi and Washington.”
“Each year, Georgia is proposing an openly politicized and bluntly demagogic resolution on this matter and the United States is regularly denying visas to delegates from Abkhazia and South Ossetia to come to the United Nations headquarters, thus not letting them clarify their position to the international community,” the Russian diplomat noted. “It is not fair.”
“Such behavior has forced the delegations from Abkhazia and South Ossetia to refuse to discuss the refugee problem within the framework of the second (humanitarian) group of the Geneva consultations,” Karasin stressed. “The blame for such developments rests entirely on the Georgian side and on those, who show too much indulgence towards its pushing politicized documents through the United Nations.”
“But still, there are grounds for certain optimism,” the diplomat noted. “I don’t think the confrontational model of relations in the region is inevitable. If common sense and realistic approach finally prevail in Tbilisi, a progress on the way of easing tensions, building up trust and establishing good-neighborly relations in the Caucasus will be quite possible.”