On November 15-19, the Co-Chairs of the Geneva International Discussions (GID), Toivo Klaar, European Union Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the Crisis in Georgia, Ayşe Cihan Sultanolu, and OSCE Special Representative Annika Söder, met in Tbilisi, Sukhumi, and Tskhinvali in preparation for the 55th round of GID, which will take place on December 7-8.

Georgian interlocutors led by Deputy Foreign Minister Lasha Darsalia expressed concern at the Foreign Ministry in Tbilisi about the "common socio-economic space" program between Moscow and Sukhumi, as well as other recent agreements between the Kremlin and Moscow-backed authorities aimed at integrating the occupied regions with Russia.

According to the Foreign Ministry statement, discussions also included the military build-up in occupied areas and military manoeuvres conducted in violation of the EU-brokered ceasefire agreement of August 12, 2008, as well as ongoing "borderisation" procedures.

The Deputy FM brought up the problem of arbitrary detentions in Sukhumi and Tskhinvali by Kremlin-backed authorities, and demanded the release of Irakli Bebua, a Gali Georgian serving a nine-year term in Abkhazia. The Georgian delegation also stressed the need of bringing the culprits of David Basharuli, Archil Tatunashvili, Giga Otkhozoria, and Irakli Kvaratskhelia's killings to justice.

Georgian interlocutors also raised the problem of ethnic Georgian prejudice in the occupied territories, as well as their lack of access to education in their own language, according to the Foreign Ministry.

The Co-Chairs met with Abkhaz "deputy foreign minister" Irakli Tuzhba in Sukhumi. Tuzhba expressed alarm about Georgia's military upgrading with US and NATO funding, as well as military drills with the Alliance and the presence of the US Navy in the Black Sea, according to Sukhumi-based Apsnypress.

According to the same report, Tuzhba also emphasised the need of signing a non-use-of-force agreement with Tbilisi and indicated willingness to discuss humanitarian matters like medical treatment and freedom of movement in the future session.

In Tskhinvali, the Co-Chairs met Konstantin Kochiev, advisor to Kremlin-backed leader Anatoly Bibilov. Tskhinvali-based RES news agency cited Kochiev as saying the Kremlin-backed authorities would again raise the issue of the Georgian police post in the Chorchana-Tsnelisi area at the upcoming GID round, as well as push for signing a deal on non-use of force with Tbilisi.