Brussels - European Union diplomats on Monday said that a peace conference on the Georgian crisis, initially scheduled for October 15, would probably have to be moved.

"The date will certainly be moved. It will be moved some days before or after - more likely after," said Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, noting that an EU summit had already been planned for the same day.

Last week French President Nicolas Sarkozy, acting as the current chairman of the EU's rotating presidency, agreed with his Russian and Georgian counterparts that the EU would chair "international talks on the modalities of security and stability in Abkhazia and South Ossetia", with the talks due to begin in Geneva on October 15.

Brussels - The European Commission is ready to provide "up to 500 million euros" (714 million dollars) in additional aid to Georgia to help it recover from the war with Russia, EU External Affairs Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said Monday.

The European Union executive hopes that its proposal of a Stabilization and Growth Package for Georgia will be approved by EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday.

The additional money comes on top of the roughly 100 million euros already being planned for Georgia this year, and it will add to any bilateral aid being provided by the EU's individual member states.

Moscow - Russia has withdrawn its last troops from western Georgia in accordance with a deal agreed with the European Union, reports said Saturday.

Russian soldiers on Saturday left the Georgian Black Sea port of Poti as well as five checkpoints between Poti and Senaki, Georgian media reports quoted the Georgian authorities and witnesses as saying.

Russian television showed the troops dismantling checkpoints at Poti before leaving in trucks. Around 150 Russian soldiers and ten tanks had been stationed in the port, locals said.

"This proves that the Russian state can strictly keep agreements," Russian Foreign Office spokesman Andrei Nesterenko told the Interfax news agency.

London, Sept. 13: Russia has described Georgia’s attack on South Ossetia and Abkhazia in August as its 9/11, and claimed that Russia would have attacked Georgia even if it was a member of the NATO.

In a strikingly self-possessed three-hour meeting in Moscow, President Dmitry Medvedev made clear he would be prepared to defend Russians militarily wherever they were in the world.

Medvedev said he never imagined he would be confronted with such a foreign policy crisis so early in his tenure, but said it had irrevocably changed him and his country.

Moscow - Russia has withdrawn its last troops from the Georgian port of Poti, reports said Saturday.

Russian television showed the troops dismantling checkpoints at the Black Sea port before leaving in trucks. Around 150 Russian soldiers and ten tanks had been stationed in Poti, locals said.

On Monday French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the current holder of the EU's rotating presidency, brokered in Moscow a deal to end Russia's current military occupation of Georgia.

Manila - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Saturday it was providing its first-ever public sector loan worth 40 million dollars to help Georgia rehabilitate services and infrastructure damaged in the recent conflict with Russia.

The Manila-based ADB said a 32-year concessional loan will be extended to Georgia's Municipal Development Fund, which will in turn provide funds to local governments to rebuild infrastructure, and improve quality, coverage and continuity of critical urban services.