By KUNA,
Paris : French President Nicolas Sarkozy, in his capacity as rotating president of the European Union (EU), left Paris Monday morning for Moscow and Tbilisi to meet their leaders to try to broker a settlement in their conflict, diplomats confirmed.
Sarkozy is expected in the Russian capital around midday local time and he will immediately undertake talks with Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev at his residence outside Moscow.
The French leader is accompanied by President of the EU Commission Jose-Manuel Barosso and Foreign Policy chief Javier Solana.
The EU delegation intends to transmit to Medvedev the Europeans’ dissatisfaction with Russia’s failure to withdraw all its troops from Georgia and also with Moscow’s decision to recognize disputed territories South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which both Russia and Georgia claim.
A demand that Russia facilitates humanitarian access to certain zones and allow access by observers from the Organization for Security Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is also likely to be presented to Medvedev by the EU delegation.
One week ago, in an extraordinary Summit in Brussels, the 27 EU leaders agreed to freeze cooperation talks with Russia, pending a satisfactory outcome to the Georgian issue.
However, some Europeans do not want to go further in punishing Russia as this could have an impact on trade and particularly on energy supplies.
Russia supplies about 66 percent of Europe’s energy needs and also has significant investment and trade agreements with major countries like Germany.
After Moscow, the EU delegation is to travel to the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, to meet with President Mikhail Saakashvili for further consultations on the conflict.