On November 30, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, who supervises the occupied regions of Georgia in the ministry, Mikhail Galuzin, held a meeting with the Adviser to Alan Gagloyev, the de facto President of the Tskhinvali region, Konstantin Kochiev, and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the de facto Republic of Abkhazia, Irakli Tuzhba. Kochiev and Tuzhba represent the occupied regions at the Geneva International Negotiations, and this meeting was devoted to the preparation for the 59th round of the Geneva Talks which will be held on December 5, 2023.

At the meeting, the parties noted that legally binding guarantees about the non-use of military force for the central government of Georgia should be developed in the near future. As the “delegations” explained, its significance is due to “provocations noticed near the border” recently, which was probably related to the killing of a Georgian citizen Tamaz Ginturi by Russian soldiers. In addition, the conversation touched upon the so-called border delimitation and demarcation process.

Tuzhba and Galuzin also discussed the resumption of Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meetings in Gali. IPRM meetings have not been held in Gali since 2018. According to Tuzhba, the de facto government appealed to the UN representatives to resume IPRM format. According to Tuzhba, one of the main issues which the Abkhaz delegation will discuss under the format is international isolation and the right on free movement for citizens of the de facto republic.