International talks on the security and humanitarian situation of the Caucasus region resumed here on Wednesday with the participation of Russia and Georgia, which fought a brief war in August.
The purpose of the meeting is to explore a security mechanism and ways to help people who fled homes due to the five-day war over Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia.
Also present at the two-day discussions are representatives from the United Nations, the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the three parties that sponsored the meeting.
Delegations from South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another breakaway region of Georgia, are also invited to the discussions. The two regions were unilaterally recognized as independent by Russia following the August war.
This is the third round of such discussions, which were started in October but suspended after only half a day, during which Russian and Georgian delegations even refused to sit in the same room because of their sharp differences on the status of Georgia's two breakaway regions.
The second round of talks last month were described by the EU and the UN as constructive and positive, during which all delegations stayed in the same room and touched concrete issues such as security and refugees.
Diplomatic sources said the parties held informal working group meetings on Wednesday at the UN headquarters in Geneva, the same format as that of the second round, which was meant to avoid the sensitive status issue of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
The discussions will continue on Thursday, but no substantial results are expected.
Source:Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article