According to Pasy's statement made public by the OSCE Secretariat in Vienna on Thursday, the OSCE continues to closely monitor developments in the conflict zone and holds telephone consultations with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania, and Russian Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov.
During their telephone conversation, Saakashvili and Pasy pointed to the vital need to alleviate tensions and ensure a consistent peace process in the region. Solomon Pasy said the OSCE had confirmed its stand on the need to search for an exclusively peaceful solution to the problem.
According to the OSCE Secretariat in Vienna, the two leaders also discussed the idea of broad OSCE presence in the conflict zone. The Vienna-based OSCE headquarters reported that the Moscow talks on the settlement of the conflict are attended by the personal envoy of the OSCE acting chairman Ambassador Ivan Naidenov.
The peak of the conflict was in 1989-1992, when Georgia deprived South Ossetia of its autonomy status and held ruthless punitive operations in the self-proclaimed independent republic. Peacekeeping forces have been controlling the situation since 1992.
