SUKHUM (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th November, 2022) Work on a treaty on the non-use of force by Georgia against Abkhazia has stalled, Abkhazian Deputy Foreign Minister Irakly Tuzhba said at a meeting with co-chairs of the International Geneva Discussions on Security and Stability in Transcaucasia, which took place in Sukhum on Wednesday.
Tuzhba recalled that the key task of the talks is "ensuring firm guarantees of peace and security for Abkhazia," and a document on the non-use of force between the two countries should become the basis for such guarantees.
"Unfortunately, for many years we have not been able to achieve the signing of such a document by Tbilisi, which refuses to even discuss this issue. At this stage, work in this direction has reached a dead end. We are offered to discuss issues of a completely different order, which are not directly related to the document on the non-use of force," he said.
Tuzhba said the signing of the treaty is important, as tensions related to the military activity of Georgia, which does not renounce its claims to the territory of Abkhazia, remain.
Moscow on August 26, 2008, after Georgia's armed aggression against Tskhinval, recognized the sovereignty of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The leaders of Russia have repeatedly stated that the recognition of the independence of the two former Georgian autonomies reflects the existing realities and is not subject to revision. However, Tbilisi refuses to recognize the independence of the republics.
The Geneva Discussions have been held regularly since October 2008. One of the main issues of discussions is the signing of a document on the non-use of force. Moscow, Tskhinval and Sukhum urge Tbilisi to sign the deal, but Georgia, which does not recognize the independence of its former autonomies, insists that Russia must assume the obligation not to use force. South Ossetia and Abkhazia stress that Georgia should sign the treaty with the two republics, and not with Russia, which is not a party to the conflict.
