Preparatory meeting for 63rd round of Geneva International Discussions held in Tbilisi

A preparatory meeting for the 63rd round of the Geneva International Discussions was held on Tuesday in Tbilisi with the participation of the co-chairs from the European Union, the United Nations, and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The meeting was led by Lasha Darsalia, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia and Head of the Georgian Delegation to the GID.

The meeting highlighted the need to ensure the effectiveness of the negotiation format.

In this context, discussions focused on the key agenda of the Geneva International Discussions, particularly the necessity of Russia’s compliance with its international obligations under the EU-mediated ceasefire agreement of August 12, 2008, as well as the urgent need to achieve progress on the safe and dignified return of internally displaced persons and refugees.

Furthermore, the importance of restoring the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism in Gali without any preconditions was underscored. The Georgian side stressed the necessity of holding regular meetings of this mechanism in both Gali and Ergneti in full accordance with its fundamental principles.

The Georgian side underscored the security, humanitarian and human rights situation in the occupied regions and near the occupation line, as well as on the steps taken in gross violation of the fundamental principles of international law, which are aimed at the illegal annexation of the occupied regions.

In this context, Darsalia underlined the issue of the illegal operation of the airport in Russian-occupied Abkhazia.

The Georgian side also emphasized the illegality of the so-called “presidential elections” planned in the Russian-occupied Abkhazia region, which represented another blatant violation of Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The 63rd round of the Geneva International Discussions is scheduled to take place on March 4-5.