Berlin- German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has expressed concern that the conflict in South Ossetia could spread, in comments to a German newspaper published Saturday.

"We face the danger of a dangerous conflagration," Steinmeier told the Sunday edition of the mass circulation Bild newspaper.

"Given this alarming prospect, all parties must live up to their responsibilities. The weapons must fall silent," he said.

Steinmeier appealed to the Russians and the Georgians to withdraw the troops they had deployed into the breakaway region in recent days.

And he expressed concern at reports that fighting had broken out in Abkhazia, another breakaway region of Georgia with a substantial Russian minority. (dpa)