Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia on the 66th Round of the Geneva International Discussions
The 66th round of the Geneva International Discussions was held on 18-19 March, 2026, where the Georgian delegation was led by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Lasha Darsalia. After the long break the delegations were presented on high level, which is important step ahead towards the stabilization of the negotiation format. Notably, for the first time since 2018, the United States was represented at the level of Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, with Sonata Coulter participating in that capacity. On behalf of the United Nations, the negotiations were co-chaired by Mohamed Khaled Khiari, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific.
Georgian delegation made special emphasis on the core agenda items of the Geneva International Discussions related to the necessity of full implementation of the provisions of the EU-mediated 12 August 2008 Ceasefire Agreement by Russian Federation and the safe and dignified return of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees to their homes.
Emphasis was also placed on the importance of restoring the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) in Gali without any preconditions and ensuring that the mechanism is held regularly in both Gali and Ergneti in accordance with its fundamental principles.
Georgia sharply raised the issue of the grave situation regarding security, humanitarian and human rights in the occupied regions and the destructive actions of the occupying regimes.
Unfortunately, representatives of the occupation regimes, as in previous rounds, withdrew from the negotiations as soon as the subject of return of IDPs’ and refugees was raised.
The discussions are held with Co-Chairmanship of the EU, UN and OSCE and participation of Georgia, the Russian Federation and the USA.