Abkhaz FM meets with Geneva consultations' UN, OSCE, EU co-chairs, names priorities

SUKHUM. Oct 10 (Interfax) - The non-resumption of hostilities and the signing of a peace agreement between Abkhazia and Georgia top Abkhazia's agenda at the Geneva Consultations on Security and Stability in the South Caucasus, Abkhaz Foreign Minister Sergei Shamba said.

He met with the Geneva Consultations co-chairs, Cihan Sultanoglu of the United Nations, Viorel Mosano of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and political advisor to the EU co-chair Gottfried Hanne, in Sukhum on Thursday.

"The Geneva consultations are the only venue where the sides can speak about outstanding problems on such a level. A key result of this process is that the guns are silent while diplomats are talking," Shamba said.

If "Georgia apologizes for what it has done, Abkhazia would welcome that as the first step to reconciliation," he said.

Georgia needs to stop using "phrases, which do not help settle the relations, including the allegedly 'Russia-occupied territories'," Shamba said.

The sides discussed the agenda of the next meeting of the Geneva Consultations due on November 5-6, the Abkhaz Foreign Ministry said.

"The foreign minister underlined at his meeting with the Western diplomats that Abkhazia's political status is non-negotiable," it said.

"Sergei Shamba expressed hope for constructive cooperation within the framework of the Geneva Consultations on Security and Stability in the South Caucasus," the ministry said.