MOSCOW, September 28. /TASS/. The future of Georgia’s new peace initiative for Abkhazia and South Ossetia does not depend on Russia, the country’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

Earlier, in his address to the 73rd United Nations General Assembly, Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze urged Russia not to derail Tbilisi’s new peace initiative for Abkhazia and South Ossetia. He stated that Tbilisi’s future lies with Sukhum and Tskhinval (the capitals of Abkhazia and South Ossetia respectively).

"The future of Tbilisi’s peace proposal cannot be determined by Moscow’s approach in any way, but exclusively by how it will be accepted in Sukhum and Tskhinval. As you know, Russia has been long urging Georgia to start mutually respectful dialogue with Abkhazia and South Ossetia," the Russian Foreign Ministry noted.

"The Georgian side should have seized an opportunity of voicing their proposals at the Geneva Discussions, which are attended, unlike the United Nations, by representatives from those republics," the commentary said. "Until now, Tbilisi has been dismissing the chance."

According to the Russian foreign ministry, the Georgian prime minister’s speech created a queer impression.

"As we see, the world is being led to believe that the republics’ population would have reunited with Georgia with pleasure long ago, but for Russian invaders," the ministry said.

"We have to hope that in the time free from propagandistic exercise, Georgian politicians are aware of the real state of affairs," it concluded.

Geneva Discussions

The Geneva Discussions on security and stability in the South Caucasus are the only platform for a dialogue between Georgia and the breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. They are held under the auspices of the UN, the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) with participation of Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Georgia, Russia and the United States.

The Geneva Discussions were held upon agreements reached by the Russian and French presidents after tragic events in August 2008 in South Ossetia when Georgia attacked it. That entailed Russia's peacemaking operation in the region. Afterwards, Moscow recognized independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Russia's allies Nicaragua and Venezuela followed the suit, as did a number of small Pacific island states.