Washington -- The United States is pleased with the latest progress in talks aimed at settling peacefully the long-standing conflict over Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia, according to an American diplomat. But in remarks to Europe’s largest security organization May 18, the diplomat, Ambassador Julie Finley, also expressed alarm at interference with international military monitors.

The progress occurred within the context of talks held May 12 in Tskhinvali, South Ossetia, under the auspices of the Joint Control Commission (JCC), an entity created by the 1992 Sochi Agreement, which established a cease-fire after 18 months of fighting between Georgian and South Ossetian forces. The Sochi Agreement defined both a zone of conflict around the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali and a security corridor along the border of South Ossetian territories.

The JCC is co-chaired by the Georgian, Russian Federation, North Ossetian and South Ossetian sides, with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) participating as a monitor and facilitator. South Ossetia borders on North Ossetia-Alania, one of the sovereign republics of the Russian Federation.

The sides agreed at the JCC meeting to set up a committee to merge the two peace proposals for resolving the South Ossetia conflict, a development Julie Finley, the U.S. ambassador to OSCE, said was “positive.” Finley made her remarks to the OSCE in Vienna, Austria.

Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli presented a peace plan to the OSCE in October 2005, fleshing out a proposal by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili in January 2005 to give South Ossetia an autonomous status within Georgia. The South Ossetian side has its own proposal.

The JCC also agreed on a list of projects that will be the subject of a donors' conference scheduled to take place in Brussels, Belgium, on June 14.

“The United States continues to encourage the sides to focus on positive developments such as these,” Finley said. “Such outcomes can lead to peace and prosperity for the people of South Ossetia, Georgia, and the region as a whole.”

But the ambassador also condemned what she called “two very troubling incidents on the ground involving serious and dangerous interference with the work of the OSCE's Military Monitoring Officers.”

The monitoring officers “were attempting to carry out their mandated duties in the zone of conflict” when they were confronted by camouflaged-dressed men who attempted to halt their patrols. In one case, the monitors were threatened verbally; in another case, the camouflaged men were armed with assault rifles and refused to identify themselves, Finley said. “Either incident could have descended into violence, but for the calm and professional behavior of the OSCE officers,” she said.

“The United States reminds the South Ossetian and North Ossetian sides of the OSCE's absolute right to unhindered access to the whole of the zone of conflict,” she continued.

Finley also expressed appreciation that the senior military observer from the Russian Federation facilitated resolution of one of the incidents.

The United States supports the territorial integrity of Georgia, which has been an outstanding partner in the global war on terrorism and has undertaken wide-ranging reforms since the November 2003 Rose Revolution. President Bush has cited Georgia’s commitment to free-market democracy as a model for the region. (See related article.)

The full text of Finley’s statement is available on the USOSCE Web site.

More information is available in a State Department fact sheet on South Ossetian conflict.

For more information on U.S. policies in the region, see Europe and Eurasia.