The FINANCIAL — According to CNN, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said he signed a cease-fire proposal on August 11 that will be taken to Moscow by the French and Finnish foreign ministers.
"We are trying to stop this as soon as possible," Saakashvili said during a conference call with Western journalists on August 11.
Saakashvili abruptly ended the call after 20 minutes, saying that Russian warplanes were flying over the presidential palace.
About 15 minutes later, an operator said "Russian planes were bombing near the president's location" and that the call would be rescheduled.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb were to travel to Moscow Monday after spending more than a day meeting Georgian officials to find a way to end the conflict over the breakway region of South Ossetia.
Stubb said they had put together some elements of a "forceful way forward" to a cease-fire and withdrawal plan.
Sources close to the delegation said the two ministers, along with their Georgian counterpart, would visit the Georgian city of Gori Monday afternoon to see first-hand damage caused by Russian airstrikes.
Saakashvili, in his conference call, claimed that Georgia forces repelled a Russian ground assault against Gori. He said the Russians retreated after advancing to within 5km (3 miles) of the city.
A Russian defense ministry spokesman denied that Russian troops had entered Georgian territory outside of the breakaway regions.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the current president of the European Union, announced plans to fly to Moscow in the coming days to meet with Russian President Dimitri Medvedev.
Meanwhile, swarms of Russian jets launched new raids on Georgia on August 11.
Earlier, Russian officials accused Georgia of violating its pledge to observe a cease-fire around the breakaway province of South Ossetia, according to reports.
In the latest attacks Russian jets hit a radar on the outskirts of the Georgian capital, bombed an airfield and also targeted the Black Sea port of Poti, inflicting no casualties, Georgian officials told The Associated Press.
Georgian Security Council chief Alexander Lomaia said up to 50 Russian jets were roaming the skies 11 August morning.
Georgia declared a cease-fire around the contested region of South Ossetia on August 10, but Russian officials told AP Georgian forces were not observing it.
Russian Maj.-Gen. Marat Kulakhmetov said that Georgian forces continued shelling Russian positions overnight and conducted a bombing run in the area.
Meanwhile Georgia said a Russian general in Abkhazia, the other breakaway province, issued an ultimatum Monday to its forces nearby to disarm or face Russian troops moving into Georgian-controlled territory, AP reported.
U.N. officials had earlier expressed concern about violence in Abkhazia after Abkhaz forces launched air and artillery strikes on Georgian troops on August 10.
On August 10, bombing was reported in the Georgian city of Zugdidi, south of the Abkhaz border.
The U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Zalmay Khalilzad, told the U.N. Security Council that a Russian-backed military operation in Abkhazia was under way. Watch Khalilzad's allegation, Russia's response »
Meanwhile South Ossetia's capital, Tskhinvali, lay in smoldering ruins after four days of fighting between Georgian and Russian forces.
Each side accused the other of killing large numbers of civilians. Russia said at least 2,000 people had been killed in Tskhinvali.
Georgia began withdrawing its forces from Tskhinvali early August 10.
Lomaia said the withdrawal was a show of goodwill, aimed at encouraging Russia to accept a cease-fire. Watch more on the victims of the fighting »
Russia insisted Georgia had no plans to stop its military actions.
Georgia, a pro-Western ally of the U.S., is intent on asserting its authority over South Ossetia and Abkhazia, both of which have strong Russian-backed separatist movements.
The situation in South Ossetia escalated rapidly from Thursday night, when Georgia said it launched an operation into the region after artillery fire from separatists killed 10 people. It accused Russia of backing the separatists.
South Ossetia, which has a population of about 70,000, is inside Georgia but has an autonomous government.
Many South Ossetians support unification with North Ossetia, which would make them part of Russia.
Discussion about this post