MOSCOW, May 18 (RIA Novosti) - South Ossetia has joined Abkhazia in pulling out of the fifth round of Geneva talks on security in the Caucasus, the head of the South Ossetian delegation said Monday.
"We will not attend this round because it makes no sense to discuss security issues in South Ossetia and Abkhazia in the absence of the Abkhazian delegation," Boris Chochiyev said.
The talks, which are supported by the UN, the EU and the OSCE, and involve Georgia, Russia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, are aimed at trying to reduce tension in the region following last August's five-day between Russia and Georgia, which began when Georgian forces attacked South Ossetia in a bid to bring it back under central control.
Abkhazia withdrew from the talks on Saturday over delays in receiving the UN's annual report on the region. Foreign Minister Sergei Shamba said Abkhazia would not cooperate with EU structures or even with the UN if they "are biased against the republic."
He said, however, that the delegation could attend the talks if the issue was resolved satisfactorily at the UN.
The Russian foreign minister said Monday that the Russian delegation had taken a break until Tuesday in the hope of hearing from the UN secretary general.
Sergei Lavrov said that "our UN colleagues have promised us that the report [by the UN secretary general] will be released early tomorrow."
Following the August 2008 conflict, Russia recognized both Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states.
Russia and the two republics signed border protection agreements in late April and Russian border guards have been deployed along the Abkhazia and South Ossetian borders since May 2.
The border deal came at a time of increased tensions between Moscow and NATO, after the alliance went ahead with military exercises in the region and two Russian NATO diplomats were expelled over spying claims.
Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Bokeriya said Monday that Tbilisi hoped international organizations would pressurize Russia to continue its participation in the Geneva talks.
"This is outrageous and not only for Georgia. Despite this shameful behavior, we hope the pressure of international organizations will make Russia change its position and the Geneva process will continue," he said.
Reuters reported on Monday that international mediators had called on the Russian and South Ossetian delegations to resume participation in the talks on Tuesday.
