This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/europe/7670897.stm

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 4 Version 5
Georgia-Russia talks 'collapse' Georgia-Russia talks move fails
(about 8 hours later)
Talks between Georgian and Russian officials on the recent conflict over Georgia's rebel region of South Ossetia have collapsed, Georgian officials say. Georgia and Russia have blamed each other after an effort to bring them together in Geneva for talks about their war over South Ossetia failed.
They say the Russians did not attend an opening session of the Geneva meeting, mediated by the UN and the EU. Moscow has made no comment on the outcome. The UN, EU and OSCE were hosting what would have been the first low-level talks between the two states since the conflict in early August.
The talks were aimed at encouraging security in the Caucasus, following a truce between Moscow and Tbilisi. The rival delegations did not formally meet during the day.
In August, Russia ousted Georgian troops trying to regain South Ossetia. An EU official said the talks had been suspended until 18 November because of "procedural difficulties".
The talks had been aimed at encouraging security in the Caucasus, following the truce between Moscow and Tbilisi.
In August, Russia ousted Georgian troops trying to regain South Ossetia and it later recognised both that region and Abkhazia, another breakaway Georgian territory, as independent states.
In a separate development, the International Court of Justice has ordered Georgia and Russia to protect civilians from ethnic discrimination in both regions.
Mutual blame
"The Russians and the Georgians were not in a formal meeting at the same time, they weren't in the same room at the same time," US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Daniel Fried told reporters after the talks move failed.
See a map of the region See a map of the region
In a separate development, the International Court of Justice ordered Georgia and Russia to protect civilians from ethnic discrimination in South Ossetia and Abkhazia - another Georgian rebel region. EU representative Pierre Morel said there had been a "problem of status, format".
Tbilisi had asked the court to order Moscow to protect ethnic Georgians in the two regions, but judges at the UN's highest court ruled that all civilians were at risk. He added: "I won't go into details. All these, I think we can group them together under the question of procedure."
Russia has recognised both South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states, drawing condemnation from Georgia and Western leaders. Russia insists on having Abkhaz and South Ossetian delegates attend any talks, while Georgia refuses to recognise their secession.
Last week, Russian troops left their self-imposed buffer zones around Abkhazia and South Ossetia, in accordance with the French-brokered ceasefire deal. In Brussels, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili accused Russia of "walking out" of the talks.
But Moscow has said it plans to keep nearly 8,000 soldiers in the two rebel regions. "[This] basically means that Russia has no interest whatsoever at this stage in any diplomatic process," he said.
Tbilisi - which has cut off its diplomatic ties with Moscow - says the two regions are integral parts of its territory, demanding an immediate pullout of the Russian troops. But the head of Russia's delegation, Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin, said Mr Saakashvili's description of events was "just a lie".
Plea for patience "The Georgian version just doesn't hold water," he told a briefing. "We deplore the absence of the Georgian delegation but we did not see it as tragic."
The talks in Geneva - meant to be the first face-to-face meeting since the fighting ended - were never going to be easy, the BBC's Imogen Foulkes says. Surreal atmosphere
A major sticking point was the format of the meeting itself. It was a surreal, almost farcical day in Geneva, the BBC's Imogen Foulkes reports from the city.
Russia had been pressing for the inclusion of representatives from Abkhazia and South Ossetia in any discussions, but Georgia strongly opposes to the move. She says that after a big build-up in which UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, and the chair of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Alexander Stubb, all arrived in town to say how wonderful it was that the talks were taking place, the discussions ended after just a couple of hours.
Sergei Chamba, the foreign minister of the Abkhazia region, earlier said there had been two separate meetings in Geneva - "the Russians and the Abkhazians (in one) and the Georgians in another". Russian and Georgian claims that the other side did not turn up were a difficult conundrum for OSCE mediator Heikki Talvitie to explain, our correspondent notes.
On Tuesday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that the meeting in Geneva was just "a beginning". "Let's put it in a way that we have two meetings," said Mr Talvitie.
"It may take time, so we need to have some patience," Mr Ban said. "One formal, one informal, and all participants were in one or the other meeting. We are not negotiating face to face we are discussing. We are not going to make decisions."
The UN and the EU are clutching hopefully to the fact that a further meeting is set for November but after this outcome it is hard to believe it is worthwhile, our correspondent says.
One of the main items on Wednesday's original agenda - the future of those displaced by the conflict - was never even discussed, she adds.
Return to storyReturn to story