The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Tbilisi’s “unconstructive” position made it impossible to make further progress on non-use of force issue during the fourteenth round of Geneva talks on December 16.

“Non-use of force in Transcaucasus was the central part of the discussions. The November 23 statement by the Georgian President, as well as the December 6 statements by Presidents of Abkhazia and South Ossetia about renouncing use of force created new atmosphere and had a real impact on strengthening stability in the region,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on December 17.

“Further progress on this very important direction for the security of all three states was hindered by unconstructive position of the Georgian representatives, who were actually ignoring statements made by their neighbors [reference made on Abkhazia and South Ossetia]. Reluctance of Tbilisi towards developing good neighborly relations with Abkhazia and South Ossetia became obvious once again,” it said.

Georgia insists on Russia to make non-use of force pledge, after the similar unilateral declaration was made by President Saakashvili on November 23. But Russia insists that it is not a party into the conflict, saying that Tbilisi on the one hand and Tskhinvali and Sokhumi on the other are parties into the conflict. Russia instead tries to position itself as "a mediator" – the position denounced by Tbilisi as “cynical”.