RUSSIA / GEORGIA: Three party talks held in Moscow aimed at reaching breakthrough over Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia

Three party talks aimed at reaching a breakthrough over Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia opened in Moscow on Thursday (August 17). Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin hosted the talks, at which South Ossetian and Georgian government representatives took part. "We are convinced that it's now necessary for the working group to make a breakthrough and a find peaceful solution to the Georgian-Ossetian conflict,'' said Karasin at the start of the talks. Local media reports said Russian officials hoped the resumption of dialogue over South Ossetia would be a turning point in resolution of the conflict in the breakaway region. "I want to repeat that the South Ossetian delegation has come here with concrete proposals to discuss the situation and how to solve this conflict, and to continue the work of our group,'' said Boris Chochiev, who heads the delegation from South Ossetia. The Georgian government delegation said it hoped the meeting would provide a new opportunity for resolving the situation in South Ossetia. "Our meeting needs to find a way to solve this conflict,'' said Merab Antadze, Georgia's Minister for Conflict Settlement. Georgia says Russia props up the South Ossetia, and a second breakaway republic of Abkhazia. The Georgian parliament last month accused Russian peacekeepers in the two breakaway regions of trying to annex Georgian territory and demanded they leave. Posters of Russian President Vladimir Putin -- emblazoned with "Putin is our president" -- dot the streets of Tskhinvali, a small town in Soviet times that became the regional capital. Many of its buildings are still scarred with bullet holes. Under Soviet rule, Georgia was the site of military bases defending Russia's southern flank. A patchwork of ethnic groups divided by administrative boundaries, the Transcaucasus region had been an area of Russian dominance since Tsarist times. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has pledged to regain control over both Abkhazia and South Ossetia. In the 1990s, separatists in Abkhazia and South Ossetia drove out Georgian forces in their bid for self-rule. Ossetians and Abkhazians differ ethnically from Georgians, and antagonisms between these peoples have deep roots. Since the 1990s, Russian peacekeeping troops have overseen fragile ceasefires.

ITN Source | August 18, 2006

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