Georgia has deployed over 1,500 police and soldiers in upper Kodori Gorge, which indicates that Tbilisi is preparing for a military operation against Abkhazia, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on April 29.

The president of the unrecognized republic of South Ossetia said Wednesday he was ready to meet with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili to sign a memorandum on the non-use of force.

South Ossetia's delegation will not participate in an August 9-10 session of the Joint Control Commission (JCC) on the settlement of the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict, the unrecognized republic's president said Friday.

Until now, the European Union has been a firm supporter of resolving the dispute over Kosovo's future status in the UN Security Council. But the EU seems to be acknowledging that this may prove impossible.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko today called on the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to step up its work to help find peaceful solutions to frozen conflicts, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reported.

Senior political figures in Russia and in the unrecognized republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia have expressed concern in recent days that the escalation of tensions in the South Ossetian conflict zone herald a new attempt by Georgia to restore what they consider its hegemony over that unrecognized republic by force of arms.

Recent actions by Georgia in the conflict zone with the breakaway republic of South Ossetia were provocative and premeditated, the Russian Defense Ministry said Friday.

The pro-Tbilisi alternative leader of Georgia's separatist region of South Ossetia has delivered his first-ever speech at the European Parliament, RFE/RL's Georgian Service reported.

Georgia could make sweeping concessions to Russia if Moscow stops supporting the breakaway region of South Ossetia on its territory, a leading Russian daily said Monday.

The international committees of the U.S. House of Representatives and Russia's lower house of parliament, State Duma, will hold a joint session Thursday to discuss issues of prime concern for Washington and Moscow.

Georgia's internal reforms and the country's progress toward democratization were the main themes of a speech by Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli in the Czech capital today.

U.S. President George W. Bush said during his visit to the Albanian capital Tirana on June 10 that Kosovo must have independence and it must happen soon. He reiterated his position today, as he wrapped up his European tour in Bulgaria. "The time is now to move the Ahtisaari plan," he said. "America believes that Kosovo ought to be independent."