We remember the tragic events that happened 12 years ago. In the early hours of August 8, the Saakashvili Government in Georgia launched the so-called “operation to re-establish the constitutional order in South Ossetia,” which in reality turned into an indiscriminate heavy artillery shelling of Tskhinval and an assault on the camp of the Russian peacekeepers from the Joint Peacekeeping Force. Georgia’s actions were a blatant violation of the international agreements on the peaceful settlement of the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict and led to numerous casualties, including among Russian military and Russian citizens, as well as to the massive destruction. In the final analysis, this was what evoked both the Russian response in the form of a peace enforcement operation and the Russian Federation’s subsequent decision to recognise the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

The years-old negotiating mechanisms designed to settle the Georgian-Abkhazian and the Georgian-South Ossetian conflicts ceased to exist and were replaced by a new international format on the South Caucasus: the Geneva International Discussions on Security and Stability in the South Caucasus, launched to implement the Principles for resolving the conflicts agreed by President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev and President of France Nicolas Sarkozy.  Based on a mutual agreement, the sides that participate in the discussions on equal terms are Abkhazia, Georgia and South Ossetia, as well as the EU, OSCE, UN, Russia and the United States, as parties that were previously directly involved in the settlement process and seeking stability and security in the South Caucasus. By coordination between the participants, the three abovementioned international organisations simultaneously act as co-chairs.  The importance of the Geneva Discussions is obvious: it is the only international forum for direct dialogue between Georgia and Abkhazia and Georgia and South Ossetia. The very existence of this venue has made it possible to maintain a peaceful negotiating process for the past twelve years, avoiding any military confrontations and preserving relative stability on the borders of these three states.   

There is a lesson to be learned from the tragic events of 2008 and it is to remind us that settling international disputes and conflicts by military methods is senseless and counterproductive.

This is particularly true of complicated and delicate situations involving interethnic relations. Any recourse to violence in this context leads to the most painful and occasionally irreparable consequences. During all these years, Russia’s efforts have been directed at restoring dialogue and a full-scale negotiating process between Georgia, on the one hand, and Abkhazia and South Ossetia, on the other, including by way of signing an agreement on the non-use of force between them.

The consistent normalisation of Russian-Georgian relations is an important element of the effort to ensure full-fledged stability and security in the South Caucasus. Russia has always cherished the bonds of friendship with the neighbourly Georgian people, with whom we lived in a single state, no matter how it was called, for centuries. We are confident that it meets the long-term interests of our countries and peoples to overcome the existing differences as soon as possible, restore bilateral relations, and promote them in all areas.