New York - The UN Security Council on Thursday extended its former UN military observer mission in Georgia for just four months rather than a longer period because of the unsettled Russian-Georgian conflict in that country in August.
The mission's new mandate will expire in mid-February. Its 153 military observers were caught in the fighting between Russia and Georgian troops and had to be evacuated in August from their posts in the Kodori Valley that separates breakaway Abkhazia and the Tbilisi government.
Helsinki - The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on Thursday welcomed Russia's withdrawal from buffer zones set up near the separatist province of South Ossetia in Georgia, Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb said.
Finland currently holds the chair of the 56-nation organization.
OSCE military observers had "observed the withdrawal," Stubb said in a statement.
OSCE observers, however, reported that Russian troops have not withdrawn from the Alkhagori area, he added.
Moscow/Tskhinvali, Georgia - Russia has pulled troops out of all of its checkpoints inside Georgia around the breakaway region of South Ossetia, the head of the Russian peacekeeping forces said on Wednesday.
Moscow - Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday said an arms embargo against Georgia would top Russia's agenda for peace talks set for Geneva on October 15.
"It is our conviction that an international embargo on sales of offensive weapons to Georgia is an urgent step," Lavrov was quoted by news agency Interfax as saying on Wednesday.
The Geneva peace conference was agreed under an EU-brokered ceasefire negotiated by French President Nicolas Sarkozy with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev that ended Russia's five-day war with Georgia.
Moscow, Tskhinvali, Georgia - Russia will pull out on Wednesday from its checkpoints inside Georgia surrounding the breakaway region of South Ossetia, the head of the Russian peacekeeping forces said.
"We plan to complete the pull-out by the end of today," Marat Kulakhmetov, commander of Russian peacekeeping forces, was quoted by news agency Interfax as saying in the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali.
New York - The UN Security Council on Thursday extended its former UN military observer mission in Georgia for just four months rather than a longer period because of the unsettled Russian-Georgian conflict in that country in August.
Helsinki - The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on Thursday welcomed Russia's withdrawal from buffer zones set up near the separatist province of South Ossetia in Georgia, Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb said.
Brussels - The European Union's top foreign-policy official, Javier Solana, on Wednesday hailed Russian moves to pull out of parts of Georgia.
Moscow/Tskhinvali, Georgia - Russia has pulled troops out of all of its checkpoints inside Georgia around the breakaway region of South Ossetia, the head of the Russian peacekeeping forces said on Wednesday.
Moscow - Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday said an arms embargo against Georgia would top Russia's agenda for peace talks set for Geneva on October 15.
Moscow, Tskhinvali, Georgia - Russia will pull out on Wednesday from its checkpoints inside Georgia surrounding the breakaway region of South Ossetia, the head of the Russian peacekeeping forces said.
