Geneva - Leaders from Russia, Georgia, the US, the EU and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) are to meet in Geneva on Wednesday to discuss the situation in Georgia.

The closed meeting is also to include leaders of the breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in an effort to find a long-term solution for stability in the region.

A five-day war occurred in August when Russia invaded South Ossetia in response to Georgian efforts to impose its rule there.

The precise agenda for the meeting is not yet clear, although Russia is expected to push for an arms embargo on Georgia, which it blames for the conflict.

Geneva - A Geneva-hosted top meeting on Georgia between French and Russian leaders due Wednesday has been downgraded to one at "expert" level involving officials from Russia, the European Union, the US and UN, it was stated Tuesday.

The decision was taken because a meeting had already taken place in the French Lake Geneva resort of Evian last week between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, current EU Council head, UN officials said in Geneva.

New York - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will take part in talks next week in Geneva to try to settle the Russia-Georgia conflict and determine the future role of the UN in the Caucasus, a UN spokeswoman said Friday.

Ban will join representatives of the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Geneva on Tuesday, a day before the start of official negotiations on the Georgian conflict.

Tbilisi/Moscow - Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili on Friday again called on Russia to withdraw from Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Georgia will never accept Russian occupation of either region nor Moscow's recognition of their independence, Saakashvili was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

The Georgian leader made the statements at a meeting with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner in the Georgia city of Batumi on the Black Sea.

Brussels - The European Union was deadlocked on Friday over whether or not to re-start talks with Russia over a strategic partnership that it froze on September 1, despite Russia's troop withdrawal from Georgia, diplomats admitted.

EU foreign ministers are set to meet on Monday in Luxembourg for the first formal debate on relations with Russia since the EU's leaders on September 1 vowed to freeze talks on the strategic deal.

Brussels  - The European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, confirmed Friday that Russia has withdrawn its troops from Georgia's buffer zones, in accordance with an international deal.

"I am happy to announce that EU Monitoring Mission (EUMM) patrols have confirmed that Russian armed forces have completed their planned withdrawal from the areas adjacent to Abkhazia and South Ossetia," Solana said in a statement.