Europe News

Medvedev assures EU's Solana of ceasefire ahead of key EU meeting

Aug 12, 2008, 12:16 GMT

Brussels - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday confirmed to the European Union's highest foreign-policy official that he had ordered a ceasefire in Georgia, officials in Brussels said a day before the EU was expected to discuss the crisis.

Medvedev confirmed in a phone conversation with EU High Representative Javier Solana that he had decided to stop all military operations in Georgia, Solana's spokeswoman Cristina Gallach said.

On Wednesday the foreign ministers of the EU's 27 member states are set to meet in Brussels to discuss the Caucasus conflict.

Eastern member states such as Poland are pushing for the EU to send peace-keeping troops to the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Other EU members say that they are waiting for the outcome of talks between Medvedev and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy, who currently holds the EU's presidency, in Moscow.

Sarkozy reached Moscow on Tuesday morning to call for a ceasefire, minutes after Medvedev had in fact announced one.