STUBB AND KOUCHNER IN TALKS WITH MOSCOW

YLE News
12.08.2008
Finland

OSCE Chairman and Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb and his
French colleague Bernard Kouchner travel to Moscow on Tuesday. They
will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to discuss ways
to end fighting between Georgia and Russia.

Stubb says the foreign ministers’ message during the talks is clear.

"We’re talking about a ceasefire. After that, let’s see how we can get
peace negotiations moving forward," Stubb told YLE from the Georgian
capital Tbilisi.

Stubb added that he is "carefully optimistic" that Russia would agree
to a peace plan for South Ossetia.

However the Finnish Foreign Minister did not want to comment on
a timeframe.

"It’s very difficult to predict. Nobody has a crystal ball. We will
do our best, but we have to see whether that will be enough," he says.

Foreign ministers meet with Saakashvili

Earlier on Monday Stubb and Kouchner were in Georgia where they held
talks with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili who signed the
peace agreement.

Stubb said signing the agreement is a step in the right direction.

"Certainly it is extremely important that we get humanitarian aid
to the people in need, that we secure a ceasefire and that, later,
international actors like the EU, OSCE and UN are brought to the
region," he said.

Stubb and Koucher also travelled to the town of Gori in South Ossetia
to visit bombed regions and an army hospital.

On Wednesday, EU foreign ministers will meet in Brussels to discuss the
situation. The European Commission has called on Russia to immediately
suspend all military action in South Ossetia.

Estonian foreign ministry evacuates Finns

The Embassy of Estonia in Georgia has evacuated both Estonian and
Finnish citizens from Georgia to Armenia. According to the Estonian
Foreign Ministry, on Monday morning there were 40 Estonians and four
Finns in the Armenian capital Yerevan awaiting transport home.

The Finnish Foreign Ministry is uncertain how many Finns still remain
in Georgia. It issued a travel advisory on Saturday warning of the
dangers of travel in the country.