UNifeed: GENEVA / RUSSIA GEORGIA TALKS

GENEVA / RUSSIA GEORGIA TALKS

The Co-Chairmen and the Georgian and Russian delegation leaders say the latest Geneva discussions aimed at restoring stability in the Caucuses have made progress, but they still differ over military maneuvers by the two sides. UNTV

Duration:03:08Date:01 July 2009

Categories:

United Nations Television, Latest Video, INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, POLITICAL EVENTS AND ISSUES, GEORGIA, RUSSIAN FEDERATION

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Full Script

STORY: GENEVA / RUSSIA GEORGIA TALKS
TRT: 3.08
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / RUSSIAN / NATS

DATELINE: 1 JULY 2009, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

SHOTLIST:
 
RECENT 2009, PALAIS DES NATIONS, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

1. Wide shot, exterior Palais des Nations,

1 JULY 2009, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

2. Wide shot, press conference
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Giorgi Bokeria, First Deputy Foreign Minister, Georgia: 
"We are lucky to have those reports of EU monitors available to all participants and the reports confirm that Georgia is fully implementing its part of the obligations, but despite that we hear continuous propaganda about alleged Georgia threat, so as I said, that propaganda, combined with massive military maneuvers just like one year ago, pose a potential threat.  We hope this threat will not materialize, but we think that in order to make sure that the threat of a Russian invasion will never be anything serious, it’s important to move forward with the real implementation of the non use of force clause that is the introduction of international policing.”
4. Med shot, cameraman
5. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Mr. Grigory Karasin, State Secretary, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Head of delegation: 
“The point is that we’ve been taught by bitter experience that one needs to be prepared for all sets of unexpected events, in particular where one is referring to so called restoration of territorial integrity, so the Russian armed forces need to be alert and no threat will prevent these maneuvers.  That’s a lesson to those who had negative comments to make, the more artificial maneuvers that were held in may this year with the participation of NATO in Georgia none the less passed off peacefully and those who invited in, quite the contrary, seemed to be quite enthusiastic about this.  Now this is normal practice, people need to understand that these are issues of security and cannot be ascribed to aggressive impulses.  We have to be responsible in our approach and it is in this context we need to view these maneuvers of Caucuses 2009.
6. Med shot, journalist taking notes
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Johan Verbeke, Special Representative of the Secretary-General: 
"On the non use of force I think we had a good, interesting discussion, following up on what we did last time. I can assure you that we agreed to continue and follow on these questions at the next meeting, so this is an on going discussion on the non use of force.  We made a couple of distinctions between legally binding and non legally binding, between the question of principles on the one hand, treaties on the other and that kind of thing.  We set the ground for what I would think is the necessary basis for preparing, step by step, an appropriate answer to that legitimate question.
8. Med shot, journalists

STORYLINE:

The 6th round of the talks between Russia and Georgia have been taking place in Geneva under the auspices of the United Nations, The European Union and the OSCE.

The talks aimed at restoring stability in the region following the conflict between the two countries in August last year. The three co chairs of the meeting said the discussions had proceeded well. The next round of the meeting will be held on September 17.

A joint meeting of the parties to the conflict will be held in the Abkhazia city of Gali later this month.   The meeting was in agreement on the principle of non-use of force in he disputed region.

The meeting also agreed on the need to rehabilitate key infrastructure facilities including the restoration of gas supplies and water for both home use and irrigation. Also discussed was the structure for registering internally displaced persons, issuance of personal identification documents and restoration of property in order to sustain a dignified and sustained return of IDP’s to their homes.

Georgia's First Deputy Foreign Minister Giorgi Bokeria told journalists Russian military maneuvers in the region and menacing language about an alleged Georgian threat were cause for concern. He said independent reports by European Union monitors confirmed Georgia was respecting an August agreement on the non-use of force.

Bokeria felt international police monitoring would be the best way of ensuring there was no Russian threat to Georgian statehood.

Grigory Karasin, the Russian Federation's Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs said Russia had learned from bitter experience that its armed forces need to be alert. Minister Karasin said threats would not prevent the Russian maneuvers. He contrasted comments about the Russian military movements to the "enthusiasm” about Nato exercises in Georgia earlier this year.

On an optimistic note, the Russian official said summer historically has not been an easy period in Caucuses. He felt however that today's negotiations should auger well for a quiet summer.

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