25 August 2004 -- President Mikheil Saakashvili sacked the head of Georgia's armed forces today.
24 August 2004 -- A European Union envoy is expected to visit South Ossetia today for talks with the separatist Georgian region's leader Eduard Kokoity.
20 August 2004 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin today urged Georgia and its separatist region of South Ossetia to renounce violence and settle their standoff through talks.
Georgia's separatist region of South Ossetia is reportedly calm today after more than a week of clashes. No fighting was reported overnight, and officials on both sides confirm that Georgian troops are withdrawing from positions they occupied during heavy fighting yesterday. The break in tensions comes after Russia issued a stern warning to Tbilisi about the risks of a new conflict in the South Caucasus region. But Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has been clear in his desire to see both South Ossetia and Abkhazia brought back under Georgian control.
20 August 2004 -- Russia and the United States have welcomed Georgia's decision to pull back its troops from the separatist republic of South Ossetia.
20 August 2004 -- For the first time in a week, no fighting was reported overnight in Georgia's separatist region of South Ossetia.
It is less than three months since Russian oligarch Kakha Bendukidze accepted the post of Georgia's economy minister, and he has already crossed swords with colleagues, including Finance Minister Zurab Nogaideli, and incurred the hostility of much of the population.
Putin called on Georgia to solve the dispute "through peaceful means." Prague, 19 August 2004 (RFE/RL) -- As the situation continues to deteriorate in Georgia's separatist republic of South Ossetia, Russia is showing signs of growing impatience.
19 August 2004 -- Fresh fighting was reported overnight in South Ossetia between Georgian troops and separatist forces there.
18 August 2004 -- Georgia today reiterated a call for an international conference to end the escalating violence in its separatist republic of South Ossetia.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) should consider paying extra attention to Central Asia and the Caucasus. That's the view of the OSCE's current chairman, Solomon Pasi. Pasi, who is also Bulgaria's foreign minister, says it makes sense now to concentrate on those parts of the world, in view of new international realities. He also said it would be "far more useful" to hold the OSCE's major annual economic forum in Central Asia rather than in Central Europe. RFE/RL reports on what looks like a shift in emphasis for the 55-member OSCE, which is Europe's largest security and rights body.
Prague, 18 August 2004 (RFE/RL) -- New clashes erupted overnight in the separatist republic of South Ossetia, reportedly leaving three Georgian soldiers dead and five others wounded. The violence broke out just after Georgian and South Ossetian officials reached a new cease-fire agreement in Tbilisi.
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