The Group of Friends of Georgia (Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States) has issued a statement at the OSCE Permanent Council on September 3, 2020.

According to the Georgian Foreign Ministry, the joint statement stressed that 12 years since the military aggression against Georgia by the Russian Federation, the current occupation of Georgian territories is extremely worrying.

The member states emphasised the need for a peaceful settlement of the conflict, in accordance with the UN Charter, principles of international law and the 1975 Helsinki Final Act.

The Group of Friends of Georgia in the OSCE calls on the Russian Federation to fully implement the EU-mediated ceasefire agreement of 12 August 2008, including the withdrawal of its forces from the occupied territories of Georgia.

The Group of Friends of Georgia are concerned about human rights violations in occupied regions of Georgia, the dire humanitarian situation, as well as the increase in Russian military exercises and the strengthening of military infrastructure.

The Group of Friends of Georgia supports the Geneva International Talks, the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanisms (IPRMs) in Ergneti and Gali and emphasizes the need to make progress in these formats.