TBILISI, Georgia

WITH LITTLE FANFARE but much anticipation, international talks began Tuesday in Geneva to address security and stability in the Georgian territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia..

Members of the international community will no doubt hear the oft-repeated but patently false Russian claim that it invaded Georgia to protect its so-called “citizens” there. What they and the public also need to hear is some straight talk on South Ossetia.

I know South Ossetia. I am Ossete; I speak Ossetian and Russian, not Georgian; I was born, raised, and lived there until Russian-backed separatists evacuated ethnic Georgians and anyone associated with Georgia. And despite this displacement, I remain the legitimate representative of the Georgian government in this region.

It is important for those in Geneva to begin their discussions with an understanding of three fundamental truths: first, that Vladimir Putin’s presidency of Russia marked a bad turn for South Ossetia; second, that since 2004 Moscow and the separatist regime based in the South Ossetian city of Tskhinvali wanted war; and third, that Russian-backed separatists have cleansed South Ossetia of ethnic Georgians.

Post-Soviet relations between Georgia and Russia started with trouble. As the U.S.S.R. disintegrated, Moscow exploited ethnic tensions in the South Caucasus to thwart Georgian independence, and the newly independent Georgia responded with immature actions and rhetoric. Civil war left South Ossetia a patchwork of Ossetian and Georgian villages and part of Georgia, but controlled by Russian-backed separatists. I was one of them.

In 1992, Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Chairman of the Georgian State Council Eduard Shevardnadze signed a ceasefire with four principles: (1) revival of trust between Georgians and Ossete; (2) agreement on a mutual security structure; (3) development of South Ossetia-Georgia economic ties; and (4) conflict resolution.

For the rest of the ’90s, the first three proceeded reasonably well, and were even helped by the Russians. Regrettably, conflict resolution languished. When in 2001 it became clear that the new Russian president, Mr. Putin, regarded South Ossetia as a geo-political tool to destabilize Georgia, a war of words ensued until war seemed inevitable.

The turning point was an election in November 2006, when separatist-controlled areas re-elected separatist leader Eduard Kokoity and endorsed South Ossetian independence. The Georgian-controlled areas, 25 villages with one quarter of the region’s population, elected me president. We solved real problems of real people. We built roads, schools, a theater and a hospital. As families began immigrating into our regions from separatist-controlled areas, the Kokoity regime, with Russian encouragement, blocked roads, harassed visitors and spewed false anti-Georgian propaganda.

Although President Mikheil Saakashvili tried to negotiate, the separatists turned a deaf ear, which came to a well-orchestrated climax in August. Today there is much Moscow-inspired chatter about how the war started and what Saakashvili did or did not do on Aug. 7. Neither the international community nor the negotiators should fall into this Russian rhetorical trap.

In late July and early August, shooting and shelling by South Ossetian separatists increased. Yet Russian peacekeepers remained idle. On Aug. 7, Russia’s peacekeeping commander in South Ossetia informed Georgian State Minister for Reintegration Temur Yakobashvili that Russian political representatives were unavailable and Moscow had lost control of the Kokoity regime, but it was too late.

On Aug. 6, Russian advance patrols were already as far into Georgia as Java, about 14 miles from Tskhinvali. Russia had begun its war.

Five hundred people — Russians, Ossete and Georgians — died. Some 2,000 were wounded. Some 20,000 were forced to flee. Those who did not run quickly enough were rounded up and taken to cells and cages in Tskhinvali. Those who resisted were shot. Today, there are no more than 100 Georgians remaining in South Ossetia and Russia is clearly to blame.

Negotiators in Geneva must face these facts, and recognize that it will take time and money to redress what has been done. Decisions are needed in Tbilisi, Moscow, Washington and Brussels to ensure long-term security and stability for those — like myself — who call South Ossetia their home. The delegation in Geneva must decide whether to be a leader or merely a footnote in this process.

Dimitri Sanakoev is head of the Temporary Administrative Unit of South Ossetia, Georgia.