Lavrov's Deputy Calls for Venue Change in Geneva Negotiations

Mikhail Galuzin says that the Russian side does not question the relevance of the negotiation format but supports changing its location.

"These are two different issues for us. On the one hand, the negotiation platform has proven its usefulness over the years. To a large extent, it is thanks to it that it is possible to maintain relative peace in the border regions of Georgia-Abkhazia and Georgia-South Ossetia and contain the risks of escalation of tension 'on the ground.' On the other hand, the need to move the discussions from Geneva is dictated by objective reasons caused by Switzerland's final loss of neutrality in the context of the conflict around Ukraine.

There are many examples of Bern’s practical participation in the aggressive line of the 'Collective West,' including joining the EU's anti-Russian sanctions and showing solidarity with the Kiev regime. These circumstances forced us to raise the issue of moving the negotiations to another state whose government, firstly, would refrain from any steps that could harm the interests of any participants in the negotiation process, and secondly, would have sufficient experience in hosting international dialogue formats.

We consider it premature to name specific capitals and possible 'transition' dates, as the work to build the consensus needed to resolve this issue is still ongoing. Allies of Abkhazia and South Ossetia fully agree with Russia's position," Galuzin said in a recent interview.

The Geneva International Negotiations format was created after the August 2008 war. In addition to Georgia and Russia, representatives of the USA and co-chairs of the OSCE, the European Union, and the United Nations are participating in the negotiations. Representatives of occupied Tskhinvali and Abkhazia are also involved in the discussions. The Geneva talks take place in two parallel working groups: the first discusses security issues, and the second addresses the return of internally displaced persons and other humanitarian issues.

On June 30, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Parliament of Georgia, Nikoloz Samkharadze, speaking at the session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Bucharest, said that "for years, negotiations have been ongoing in the format of international discussions in Geneva, including with the co-chairmanship of the OSCE, but the peace process still cannot be regulated."

Russia has been advocating for changing the venue of international negotiations in Geneva for two years. This issue was raised publicly for the first time in 2022, after the start of the war in Ukraine. At the time, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that "the Geneva discussions have become hostage to geopolitics" and pointed to transferring the negotiation process to "a more neutral place."