A meeting between the Geneva Discussions co-chairs and Abkhazian representatives was held
SUKHUM -- Today co-chairmen of the Geneva discussions Pierre Morel, Antti Turunen and Gedryus Cekuolis met with the representatives of the Abkhaz authorities in Sukhum. On the Abkhaz part, the meeting was attended by the Abkhaz president's envoy Vyacheslav Chirikba and MFA officials.
At the meeting they discussed the agenda of the upcoming rounds of the Geneva discussions on security and stability in Transcaucasia.
The EU special representative Pierre Morel assessed positively the outcome of the previous rounds of the Geneva discussions.
The parties exchanged views on further prospects of the Geneva format development and discussed the most pressing items of the agenda related, first of all, to ensuring security and keeping peace in the zone of the conflict, a spokesperson for the Abkhaz MFA told Apsnypress.
After the meeting the EU special representative Pierre Morel told journalists that the 25th five-sided meeting within the framework of the mechanism on incident prevention and response would be held on March 2 in Gal. “The number of meetings is not the points, but the fact that five-sided meetings is a place where they meet, work, and discuss very “sensitive” points”, Morel said.
The Abkhaz president's envoy to the negotiations Vyacheslav Chirikba said the Abkhaz side was preparing for the 16th round of discussions in Geneva. Chirikba emphasized that aggressive statements of the Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili which had been voiced recently, cannot but alarm and worry. “We are sure to speak about it at the Geneva discussions. Besides, we will raise the issue of the borders, the mechanism of the five-sided Gal meetings, verification of refugees who have returned to the Gal district and those who are on the Georgian side. We'll have a very intensive agenda and I think there will be a heated debate on some issues but we are ready for it”, Vyacheslav Chirikba heading the Abkhaz delegation at the Geneva discussions stressed.
The next 16th round of the Geneva discussions will be held on March 1.