Georgia expected to request peacekeepers at Geneva talks

Nov 18, 2008, 14:37 GMT

Geneva - Georgia is expected to request an international peacekeeping force in the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia Wednesday during the second round of talks in the wake of its war with Russia this summer.

The Georgian Foreign Ministry want the international troops to replace Russian forces currently in the areas, reported the RIA Novosti news service.

Georgia is also expected to ask for a Russian troop withdrawal from areas where it says the Russian forces are in violation of a French-brokered ceasefire.

South Ossetia, for its part, accused Georgia over the weekend of violating the agreement and firing at a sentry post inside the rebel region.

Russia, which has recognized South Ossetia's and Abkhazia's unilateral declarations of independence, said it was placing 3,800 troops in each region to protect the local populations from Georgian attacks.

The second round of talks is scheduled to occur in working groups, with no plenary meeting planned.

The first round of UN-sponsored talks last month ended with both sides accusing the other of walking out. Moscow has refused to conduct direct talks with Tbilisi.

Those talks were also attended by the United States, the European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the leaders of the two breakaway regions.

Russia and Georgia waged a five-day war in August when Russia invaded South Ossetia in response to Georgian efforts to impose its rule there.