GENEVA (RFE/RL)–Following three days of talks in Geneva–Georgian and Abkhaz delegations agreed on Wednesday to Tbilisi’s proposal to create a coordinating council to oversee further talks.
That body will be headed by UN special representative to Georgia Liviu Bota and will have three committees addressing the repatriation of displaced persons–security–and economic issues. The first session of the council will take place in December–according to Reuters. Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Boris Pastukhov said the atmosphere at the talks was far more cordial than at earlier rounds of negotiations.
He added that Moscow "will spare no effort" to reach a political solution to the conflict but does not claim any monopoly on peacekeeping operations in the region. The October CIS summit in Chisinau extended the mandate of the peacekeeping force in Abkhazia until Dec. 31` of this year.
