Russia and representatives from Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions left the section of yesterday’s Geneva International Discussions which concern the return of IDPs in protest, the co-chairs of the discussions - the EU, UN and OSCE said in a joint statement. 

The 54th round of Geneva International Discussions, which was set up back in 2008 after the Russia-Georgia war to help the country resolve conflict-related issues, was held late yesterday with the participation of the co-chairs of the discussion, the US, Russia, the central Georgian government and members of de facto authorities. 

“Despite constructive engagement on a variety of humanitarian issues, a discussion on the core issue of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and refugees could not take place due to a walkout by some participants, which disrupted the round, '' said the co-chairs . 

Russia and de facto authorities have left the section of the discussions ‘in protest’ for many years, because they believe it was the central Georgian government which had carried out ‘ethnic cleansing’ of the population in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali. 

The Georgian Foreign Ministry says that the issues of illegal detention of Georgian citizens, unresolved cases of missing persons, restrictions on freedom of movement, and making illegal barriers by the occupation forces have been raised during the meeting. 

Following the conflicts in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali thousands of Georgians have become internally displaced. 

The next meeting in Geneva was scheduled on 7 and 8 December of 2021.