PROTOCOL of the negotiation between the Chairman of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR and the Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia

1. To work out during April of 1991 the draft of the Agreement on interstate relations between the RSFSR and the Republic of Georgia to be signed; for this purpose the working group shall be set up.

Concerning the stabilization of the situation in the region of former South Ossetian Autonomous oblast the sides agreed as follows:

2.  The Ministry of Interior of the RSFSR and the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Georgia shall set up, in ten days term, the joint Commission for investigation the situation in the aforementioned region and objective evaluation of the events before 20 April of current year.

3. The Ministry of Interior of the RSFSR and the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Georgia shall form the joint detachment of militia in order to carry out the process of disarmament of illegal armed formations in the territory of the former South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast.  The detachment shall secure public order in the mentioned region before restoration of stability.

4. To address to the Ministry of Defence of the USSR with a proposal of re-dislocation of the military unites of the Soviet Army from the territory of the former South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast.

5. The Councils of Ministers of the RSFSR, the Republic of Georgia and the North Ossetian SSR shall start activities on establishment of the conditions for return of refugees to the places of their permanent residence.  Restoration of legal state agencies shall be secured.

6. The governments of the RSFSR, the Republic of Georgia and the North Ossetian SSR shall set up Commission on estimating the sustained loss to refugees and carry out additional measures for material and financial assistance in order to compensate this damage.

7. Restoration of peace and stability in the region shall be considered as a final task of establishing Commission and detachment.

8. To set up permanent Group to exercise control over the implementation of the Protocol and regulation of emerging disputes.

Chairman of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR B. Yeltsyn

Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia Z. Gamsakhurdia

23 March 1991

(Newspaper “Vestnik Gruziy”, # 42, 28 March 1991)