Russia-Georgia talks fail

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russian and Georgian peace negotiators have moved forward on easing tensions but fallen short of an accord that would establish an international observer for Georgia's breakaway provinces, participants in the talks said Thursday, the AP reports.



The two sides have been discussing how to prevent shootings and other clashes that have been an obstacle to restoring stability since the August war that uprooted more than 160,000 people, officials said.



U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried said progress was made toward an agreement on how to deal with and avoid the sometimes deadly clashes but: "I regret that we did not achieve this agreement."



Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said the negotiators had engaged in a free exchange of views.



"Today at times, the discussions were very heated, which is actually natural since the political views ... are very different," Karasin said. "The Russian troops in stay in the region to ensure security of Abkhazia and South Ossetia."



The next meeting of the Geneva peace talks will take place on Feb. 17-18, said EU representative Pierre Morel.