According to a statement made by Inal Ardzinba, the de-facto Foreign Minister of separatist Abkhazia, the Geneva International Discussions (GID) should be relocated to a less biassed location and a city where all parties to the negotiation process will have great opportunities and working conditions. After speaking with Mikhail Shurgalin, who was in the occupied zone for the first time since being appointed Russian ambassador, Ardzinba made this comment. According to Ardzinba, the GID negotiations are on hold, not at Abkhazia's or Russia's initiative but at the initiative of Western nations and Georgia.

Before publishing the comment on GID, Ardzinba had congratulated Shurgalin and praised his extensive experience in the Russian Foreign Ministry. He expressed hope for bilateral cooperation to enhance national security, the strengthening of Abkhazia's de facto state sovereignty, and economic prosperity.

Earlier, the Birmingham Declaration of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly emphasised the need for full implementation by the Russian Federation of the EU-mediated Ceasefire Agreement of August 12, 2008, as well as the January 2021 decision of the European Court of Human Rights, which expressed deep regret over the ongoing conflict between the Russian Federation and Georgia since 2008.

As previously reported by Caucasus Watch, the Co-Chairs of the Geneva International Discussions (GID), Toivo Klaar, European Union Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the Crisis in Georgia; Ayşe Cihan Sultanolu, United Nations Representative; and Viorel Moșanu, OSCE Special Representative, visited separatist Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali Region. On May 31 in Sokhumi, the Co-Chairs met with de facto Abkhaz authorities who expressed a wish to resume the work of the GID, which had been suspended in March due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.