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Next round of Geneva talks on security in South Caucasus scheduled for March 17-18

GENEVA, December 10 /TASS/. The 31st round of talks on security and stability in South Caucasus will take place in Geneva on March 17-18, 2015, representatives of Abkhazia, Georgia, Russia, the United States and South Ossetia said after the 30th round of talks had ended at the Palace of Nations in Geneva on Wednesday.

“We managed to reach this agreement despite the fact that today’s dialogue was thorny. Our stances were divided on a number of issues and were sometimes diametrically opposite,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin, who led the Russian delegation at the talks, told TASS.

“The co-chairmen of the Geneva discussions are expected to visit Abkhazia, Georgia, South Ossetia and Moscow prior to the March round. Their task will be to advance some practical issues, including those related to the preparation of the draft of a joint statement on the non-use of force,” Karasin said.

The head of the Russian delegation also said the parties could manage to agree to resume the mechanisms of reaction to incidents on the Georgian-Abkhazian border.

“For that, we need goodwill and a desire to agree,” Karasin stressed.

“No one expects any breakthroughs from the Geneva discussions but the fact that all the parties gather together to discuss the existing problems openly and sincerely is undoubtedly a positive factor,” the Russian diplomat concluded.

The Geneva discussions on security in South Caucasus have taken place under the supervision of the United Nations, the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation /OSCE/ in Europe for more than five years. The agreements reached by the Russian and French presidents after Georgia’s 2008 war against South Ossetia. Georgia’s aggression against South Ossetia forced Russia to send its troops to the region. Moscow recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia shortly after that.