New York  - The United Nations was on Tuesday seeking 58.6 million dollars from the international community to help an estimated 130,000 Georgians affected by the conflict that erupted between Russia and Georgia on August 7.

The amount sought would cover six months of humanitarian programmes to be carried out by UN relief agencies and non- governmental organizations.

Brussels - The European Union wants to see Russian troops move out of Georgia "today," Javier Solana, the bloc's foreign policy chief, said in Brussels on Tuesday.

"Some troops are beginning to move ... and I hope very much that within the day, the troops will begin seriously to withdraw," said Solana.

The EU high representative was speaking as NATO ministers met at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels and ahead of talks with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.

Tbilisi/Geneva  - Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees arrived in the Georgian capital Tbilisi on Tuesday to begin a four-day mission to Georgia and the Russian Federation to assess the humanitarian situation in the region.

Brussels - NATO should take a strong line with Russia over its use of force in the conflict with Georgia, but that strong line should not imperil NATO-Russia dialogue, the alliance's foreign ministers said at an emergency meeting in Brussels on Tuesday.

"The first priority is to provide political and practical support to Georgia, the second is to ensure that Russia doesn't learn the wrong lessons from the events of the last two weeks ... Force cannot be the basis for the demarcation of new lines around Russia," British Foreign Minister David Miliband said ahead of the meeting.

Tbilisi - Georgia and Russia made their first prisoner exchange on Tuesday as NATO leaders were set to meet in Brussels on the Ossetia war.

Russian officials at the Igoeti checkpoint, at the boundary between Georgian and Russian lines, handed over 13 Georgian prisoners of war and received 5 Russian servicemen in exchange.

It was the first handover of prisoners between combatants since the outbreak of the Ossetia war earlier this month.

The turnover had been planned for Monday but fell apart over accusations from both sides of procedural violations including incorrect names on POW lists.

London, Aug. 19 : Russia has reportedly placed short range SS-21 missiles in South Ossetia, that could pose a threat to most major Georgian cities," including the capital, Tbilisi, a U. S. defense official confirmed to Fox News on Monday.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman was quoted as saying that: "The only forces that are permitted to remain under the cease fire agreement are the forces that were in there at the Aug. 6 time frame."

"Anything such as that, or any other military equipment that was moved in would be in violation of this cease-fire and should be removed immediately," he added.