Russia, Georgia to reconvene Geneva talks in September

Russia and Georgia on Wednesday held a "constructive" round of security talks in Geneva and agreed to meet again on September 17, international mediators said after the meeting.

"The participants agreed to meet again on September 17, 2009," European Union ambassador Pierre Morel said after the sixth encounter between the two countries since their war last August.

The talks are meant to focus purely on preventing renewed violence over the Russian-backed rebellious Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and easing humanitarian issues such as refugees and water supplies, rather than resolving the conflict.

"The discussions took place in a constructive spirit," the mediators from the EU, the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said in a joint statement.

The meeting resurrected and revised an "incident prevention and response mechanism", by scheduling a meeting of military commanders and officials on the ground under UN auspices on July 14 in Gali, in the region of Abkhazia.

They had agreed on a similar step at their meeting February but the mechanism aimed at establishing lines of communications between opposing forces on the ground swiftly broke down.

Morel suggested that the process was gaining a momentum of its own.

"As usual, this sixth session was sometimes difficult, without being dramatic," Morel commented after the talks.

After the meeting, Russian and Georgian representatives expressed satisfaction with the outcome, but accused each other of belligerent intentions in the region.

"We ended the discussions on a positive and constructive note and we agreed that the next meeting would take place on September 17," said Russian deputy foreign minister Grigory Karasin, according to the Ria Novosti news agency.

The talks come after Russia opposed renewal the mission of monitors from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the United Nations in Georgia.

This week, Russia also started military exercises involving 8,500 troops in the Caucasus, just north of Georgia.

Karasin said the consequences of withdrawing the monitors were discussed and admitted "the situation in the region is worrying" following their exit, but said what is needed is "to find measures which will allow us to ensure security and stability in the region."

During Wednesday's discussions, participants focused on the "non-use of force and international security arrangements," a joint statement from the mediators said.

However, it added that the two sides also "agreed to move towards a comprehensive plan" to address humanitarian issues surrounding people displaced by the conflict, marking a first step on the most controversial issue they have to deal with.

Russia sent troops and tanks deep into Georgia last August to repel a Georgian military attempt to retake South Ossetia, which had received extensive backing from Moscow since breaking from Tbilisi's control in the early 1990s.

Russian forces later mostly withdrew into South Ossetia and another breakaway region, Abkhazia.

But Tbilisi is furious at the continued presence of thousands of Russian troops in both rebel regions. Moscow recognises both regions as independent states.