Russia, Georgia to resume talks amid intensifying tension

(GENEVA) - Georgia and Russia are set to meet Wednesday in Geneva for the sixth time since last October in a bid to find an accord on security arrangements, amid growing tensions following their war last year.

"These discussions are always difficult, we are always in a very unstable context," a diplomat close to the process said.

"We are still walking on eggs," he added.

Just two days before the talks were due to begin, Russia started its biggest military exercises involving 8,500 troops in the Caucasus since its war with Georgia last August.

Georgia has swiftly condemned as "dangerous" the week-long war games, which are taking place just north of where Russia and Georgia fought over the pro-Moscow breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia.

Even in the last round of discussions held May 18 and 19, the atmosphere was taut, with the Russians and their South Ossetian and Abkhazian allies boycotting the first day of discussions.

They returned the next day, and according to the EU -- which organised the discussions along with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the United Nations -- the parties managed to make some progress, including a renewed pledge to re-engage on security measures on the ground to prevent flare-ups.

The series of talks is not meant to deal with the most controversial issue, Abkhazia and South Ossetia's self-declared independence.

Almost a year after the brief war, Georgia remains very unstable.

President Mikheil Saakashvili is facing a strong opposition which has accused him of provoking the crisis that had resulted in Georgia losing a big part of its territory.

Meanwhile, strains in the relationship with Moscow are fuelled by the animosity between Saakashvili and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Russia is maintaining an uncompromising stance over Georgia, even though it has shown flexibility towards many of Tbilisi's allies on other issues.

Moscow is, for instance, on the verge of finding an accord with the United States on nuclear disarmament.

On Saturday, NATO and Russia also agreed to resume political and military cooperation, ending a 10-month freeze following the war in Georgia.

But Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov said following NATO talks that Moscow's recognition of the two breakaway regions of Georgia is "irreversible".

Russia is also opposed to renewing the mandate of the OSCE and UN's missions in the conflict zones.

The mandate of the first OSCE mission in Georgia expired on December 31, while the second ended on Tuesday.

Russia has also vetoed a draft resolution aimed at extending the UN mission in Georgia (MONUG) deployed in Abkhazia since a conflict in 1993.

Instead, Moscow has proposed a new pan-European security agency, which has left Western countries skeptical.

"We didn't expect such an extreme position from the Russians, notably on the role of the United Nations. It's not really a good sign for the stability in the region," said the diplomat.