9th round of Geneva consultations on Caucasian security to be held on Jan 28.

ITAR-TASS
January 12, 2010

SUKHUM - The 9th round of the Geneva Consultations on security in the Caucasus will be held on January 28, Abkhazian Deputy Foreign Minister Maxim Gvindzhia told Itar-Tass on Tuesday.

In his words, an Abkhazian delegation will be led by Presidential Adviser for Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Chikirba. The delegation will also include Gvindzhia, Deputy Defence Minister Garri Kupalba and officer of the Foreign Ministry Lana Agrba.

Representatives of the United Nations, the European Union, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), as well as of Russia, the United States, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Georgia take part in the discussions, Gvindzhia said.

The Russian delegation will be headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin, the South Ossetian delegation will be led by Presidential Envoy for Post-Conflict Settlement Boris Chochiyev, and Georgia's delegation will be headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Giga Bokeria, the deputy minister said.

The previous eighth round of the consultations was held on November 11.

The Geneva consultations were organised in the format of the Sarkozy-Medvedev plan signed on August 12, 2008.

During the meetings, officials from Georgia, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Russia and the US, with the participation of the OSCE, EU, and UN discuss the situation in the zones of the Georgian-Abkhazian and the Georgian-Ossetian conflicts, he said.