Talks on Russian-Georgian conflict resume in Geneva under UN co-sponsorship

The United Nations and its international partners chairing talks on last year’s Russian-Georgian conflict in South Ossetia today voiced concern over a number of recent detentions but noted that the overall security situation on the ground remained “relatively stable.”

The eighth round of the talks, co-chaired by the UN, the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), were held in Geneva.

The conflict erupted in August 2008, with Georgian troops fighting Russian and separatist South Ossetian forces. Russia later recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another separatist region in Georgia.

The participants, meeting in two parallel working groups to discuss security and stability in the region and humanitarian matters, agreed to continue their talks in the same format on 28 January, according to a communiqué issued afterwards.

UN Representative Johan Verbeke told a news conference that the meeting had once again been useful, if difficult, but they were here to solve problems, and it had given them the necessary material to continue.