GEORGIA'S PREMIER, OSSETIA'S PRESIDENT AGREE TO MEET NOV. 5

MOSCOW/TBILISI, November 4 (RIA Novosti) - Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania of Georgia and Eduard Kokoity, President of the breakaway, self-styled republic of South Ossetia, have agreed to meet November 5 in the Russian Black Sea port of Sochi, Alexander Yakovenko, official spokesman for Russia's Foreign Ministry, told the media Thursday. Officials from Russia have been invited to attend, he said. The Russian delegation, to be led by First Deputy Foreign Minister Valery Loshchinin, will include Vladimir Chkhikvishvili, Russian Ambassador to Georgia; Valery Kenyaikin, Ambassador-at-Large and Co-Chair of the Joint Control Commission; Major General Marat Kulakhmetov, Commander of the United Peacekeeping Force; and Teimuraz Kusov, Co-Chair of the Joint Control Commission for the Russian republic of North Ossetia/Alania. The Joint Control Commission includes mediators from Russia, Georgia, South Ossetia and North Ossetia.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman, the following three groups of issues will be high on the meeting's agenda: security measures and step-by-step demilitarization of the conflict zone; economic development; and ways to achieve a full-scale diplomatic solution to the conflict, one that would be mindful of both Georgian and Ossetian interests. Mr Yakovenko did not rule out that some communiques would be issued at the end of the meeting. "In case any agreements are reached, something we are hoping for, the sides may, as was the case in the past, issue a communique," he said.

Earlier today, Mr Zhvania told reporters in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, that his government did not expect the forthcoming meeting to bring any major breakthrough in the relations between Georgia and its breakaway province.

"We do not expect any breakthrough of the meeting. Actually, this will be the Georgian leadership's first meeting with Kokoity," Georgia's Premier said.

According to Mr Zhvania, the sides have already agreed on the agenda. It will be dominated by issues such as "full disarmament and demilitarization of the conflict zone, the restoration of Georgian people's travel through Tskhinvali [the capital of South Ossetia], and the implementation of a number of economic projects, including the resumption of rail traffic."

The Georgian PM believes these to be underlying issues for the final settlement of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict. "The conflict cannot stay in limbo forever. It has been continuing for 14 years, and still remains unsolved. Things cannot go on like that," Mr Zhvania pointed out. He said the government of Georgia was trying to use all possible means at its disposal to bring the problem to a negotiated settlement.

The armed conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia broke out when Georgia stripped the republic of autonomy status and took harsh measures to punish it for unilateral declaration of independence. Since 1992, the situation in the conflict zone has been controlled by an international peacekeeping force. The simmering conflict boiled over early this year as Mikhail Saakashvili took over the presidency in Georgia.