On August 26, the Facebook page “Salte” published the show “Politics Hour with Tamta Karchava,” featuring analyst Davit Zardiashvili as a guest. Zardiashvili discussed the six-point agreement signed on August 12, 2008, between Russia and Georgia, brokered by France. According to Zardiashvili, Saakashvili removed the clause from the agreement that prohibited Russia from unilaterally recognizing the independence of territories.
Davit Zardiashvili: “The global war party’s interest in 2008 was the same as it is today – to ensure that the casus belli between Russia and Georgia was never removed. A direct indication of this is the fact that, at Saakashvili’s request, the clause prohibiting Russia from unilaterally recognizing independence was removed from the Medvedev-Sarkozy agreement.”
The interpretation that the 6th clause of the August 12, 2008 agreement initially prohibited Russia from unilaterally recognizing Georgia’s territories is manipulative. The original version, which was indeed amended by the Georgian side, mentioned the initiation of international discussions on the status of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The Georgian side found this problematic because it left the issue of Georgia’s territorial integrity unresolved, posing a potential threat of recognition of these territories.
On August 12, 2008, the then-President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, who held the rotating presidency of the European Union, arrived in Tbilisi from Moscow with a ceasefire plan agreed upon with the then-President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev. According to official information, Georgia signed the agreement with certain changes on August 15, and Russia signed it on August 16.
The Georgian government found the 6th clause of the agreement problematic, as it called for the initiation of international discussions on the status of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and the provision of stable security for these regions. The government considered the inclusion of the word “status” as raising doubts about Georgia’s territorial integrity and creating the possibility of various interpretations.
Mikheil Saakashvili spoke on this issue before a parliamentary investigative commission in November 2008. He stated that by signing the original version of the agreement, Georgia would have left the issue of territorial integrity open, and for this reason, he refused to accept it.
Mikheil Saakashvili: “When Sarkozy came here, he brought a 6-point agreement. The 6th clause stated that the international status of these Georgian territories should be determined through future negotiations. And well, this was completely unacceptable to me. This means that we should have left our territorial integrity issue open as a result of this ceasefire agreement…”
After Saakashvili’s refusal, Nicolas Sarkozy resumed negotiations with the Russian side and soon received confirmation of the change to the 6th clause.
In a 2010 statement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov himself confirmed that they were prepared to continue discussions on the status of Abkhazia and South Ossetia after the cessation of hostilities, but agreed to Saakashvili’s request.
Sergey Lavrov: “We had no geopolitical considerations at all. We were ready to continue discussions on the status of Abkhazia and South Ossetia on the day of the cessation of hostilities. The document was agreed upon. President of France Nicolas Sarkozy took it to Tbilisi. Then he called and told us that Saakashvili was categorically opposed to discussing the status of these republics, that the status was clear to him, and that this phrase needed to be removed. We agreed.”
Ultimately, the issue of international discussions on the status of the occupied territories was removed from the 6-point plan, and the agreement was formulated as follows:
- Renunciation of the use of force;
- Definitive cessation of hostilities;
- Ensuring free movement for humanitarian aid;
- The return of Georgian armed forces to their usual deployment locations;
- The return of Russian armed forces to the line preceding the start of hostilities. Until the establishment of an international mechanism, Russian peacekeeping forces will implement additional security measures;
- The initiation of international discussions on security and stability conditions in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
| Original Version of the 6th Clause from the August 12, 2008, Agreement | Final Version of the 6th Clause from the August 12, 2008, Agreement |
| “Initiation of international discussions on the status of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and the provision of stable security for these regions.” | “Initiation of international discussions on security and stability conditions in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.” |
Russia was dissatisfied with the change to the 6th clause, and later, they cited this change as the primary reason for recognizing Georgia’s separatist regions as independent countries. According to Sergey Lavrov, after the 6th clause was altered by Saakashvili, “everything became clear” to them, and only then did they decide to recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
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