David Zalkaliani has met with Gillies Carbonnier, the vice-president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

On 21 October 2021, the Vice Prime Minister/Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, David Zalkaliani met with the Vice-president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Gillies Carbonnier, who arrived in Georgia to discuss issues related to cooperation between the ICRC and Georgia and the ICRC’s activities in the country.
David Zalkaliani thanked the ICRC representatives for their work in Georgia, including in the Russian-occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions, and notably, for their efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to the conflict-affected population.
The Minister briefed the representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross on the dire humanitarian situation in the Russian-occupied regions of Georgia, including on violations of fundamental human rights, arbitrary detentions, restriction of free movement, rejection of appeals for medical evacuation. The Vice Prime Minister stressed the need to adopt a humanitarian approach in dealing with the case of the illegally detained Irakli Bebua. David Zalkaliani also spoke about the Georgian government's peace policy and the work done by the governmental commission in terms of developing and implementing the State Strategy for De-occupation and Peaceful Conflict Resolution.

Discussions focused on the armed conflict in the Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions of Georgia in the 1990s and on the efforts to identify and return persons reported missing as a result of the Russia-Georgia war in August 2008. David Zalkaliani thanked Gillies Carbonier for the ICRC’s efforts and mediation in this process. The Minister of Foreign Affairs focused on the coordination mechanisms on missing persons. According to him, more than 200 people have already been identified and handed over to their families with the support of the ICRC. Speaking about the work of the Inter-agency Commission to coordinate the search for and transfer of the remains of persons missing as a result of armed conflicts, the Vice Prime Minister highlighted the Georgian Government’s commitment to continue humanitarian efforts in this regard and to advance the cooperation to a newer level.

The sides agreed to continue close cooperation and consultations on the issues of priority importance.