Geneva hosts new round of Georgia-Russia talks
Georgia and Russia are holding a one-day meeting in Geneva in a bid to find an accord on security arrangements.
Wednesday’s talks are the sixth since armed forces from the two sides clashed over the Georgian breakaway region of South Ossetia last August.
Just two days before the talks began, Russia started its biggest military exercises involving 8,500 troops in the Caucasus since the conflict.
The talks also come one day after the expiry of the monitoring mandate for the region of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
Russia is opposed to renewing the OSCE mandate and United Nations mission in the conflict zone.
Switzerland represents Russian interests in Georgia.
Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey said at a meeting last week in Bern with her Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, that Switzerland could be a valuable partner for Moscow in its negotiations with the OSCE.
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