ST. PETERSBURG, October 28 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's foreign minister warned Georgia on Tuesday that its refusal to attend Geneva talks along with South Ossetian and Abkhazian representatives would threaten regional security.
Sergei Lavrov was asked by reporters to comment on remarks by Grigol Vashadze, a Georgian deputy foreign minister, that Tbilisi was ready for discussions in Geneva, scheduled for November 18, but opposed the participation of representatives from the separatist Georgian republics.
"If Georgia really refuses to participate in the Geneva discussions while South Ossetian and Abkhazian representatives attend, this is sad. It is an outright challenge to all those concerned about regional security," Lavrov said following Russia-EU talks.
However, another Georgian deputy foreign minister said later on Tuesday that Tbilisi was ready to attend an informal meeting with representatives of the breakaway provinces but had set certain conditions for its participation.
Giga Bokeria said Georgian officials were ready to meet with representatives of South Ossetia's and Abkhazia's de-facto governments as part of informal working groups if the meeting was also attended by representatives of "the legitimate authorities from these regions" (i.e., the Abkhazian government in exile and the South Ossetian Tbilisi-backed interim administration).
Bokeria also said Georgia had no plans to disrupt the Geneva security and stability talks.
The first round of international talks on the Georgian conflict in Geneva earlier this month was suspended until November, over what Pierre Morel, EU special representative for the crisis in Georgia, described as "procedural difficulties."
The talks were to focus on security arrangements for Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as well as on Georgian and Western concerns over the Russian military presence in the region. Russia and Georgia fought a five-day war after Georgia attacked South Ossetia on August 8 and Russia interfered to force Georgia to peace. Moscow recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states in late August.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin, who led the Russian delegation, explained that two sessions had been scheduled for October 15 and that the Russian delegation refused to attend the first because representatives from Abkhazia and South Ossetia were not invited to participate.
Georgia refused to take part in the second session, which involved all the parties to the conflict and the intermediaries - the UN, the EU, and the United States.
Lavrov called for focusing on real problems in the region, including the status of refugees and displaced persons. "It is impossible to discuss these problems without South Ossetia and Abkhazia participating," he said.
Lavrov's position is far from being met with understanding in Georgia.
"Georgia's main demand is based on the principle of territorial integrity, and delegations from so-called Abkhazia and South Ossetia cannot be official participants of the meeting in Geneva," Deputy Foreign Minister Vashadze told journalists earlier on Tuesday after meeting with Morel.
Morel and Peter Semneby, EU special representative for the South Caucasus, are holding political consultations with the Georgian leadership on preparations for the Geneva talks.
