Geneva  - All the delegations attended "constructive" talks on the Russia-Georgia conflict Wednesday and agreed to meet again for another round of negotiations next month, the European Union representative to the discussions said.

"We had constructive meetings of the two working groups," said Pierre Morel. As planned, the two groups, with eight delegations in total, met on security and refugee issues for about three hours each.

The first round of talks last month ended with Moscow and Tbilisi accusing each other of walking out without the two sides having sat in the same room.

"Today, we have taken a big step forward," said Morel, adding that the talks had entered a "fully operational phase."

Geneva - All the delegations attended "constructive" talks on the Russia-Georgia conflict Wednesday and agreed to meet again for another round of negotiations next month, the European Union representative to the discussions said.

"We had constructive meetings of the two working groups," said Pierre Morel. As planned, the two groups, with eight delegations in total, met on security and refugee issues for about three hours each.

Geneva - The delegations from Russia, Georgia and the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia arrived Wednesday morning at the United Nations in Geneva for a second round of talks since they went to war in the summer.

Also attending the meetings are representatives from the United States, European Union, UN and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

An official with the self-declared Abkhazian government said he hoped the talks would be "constructive" but stressed that there would be no plenary meeting.

"It will be eight individuals in groups working together," said Maxim Grinjia, a deputy to the foreign minister.

Geneva  - Georgia is expected to request an international peacekeeping force in the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia Wednesday during the second round of talks in the wake of its war with Russia this summer.

The Georgian Foreign Ministry want the international troops to replace Russian forces currently in the areas, reported the RIA Novosti news service.

Georgia is also expected to ask for a Russian troop withdrawal from areas where it says the Russian forces are in violation of a French-brokered ceasefire.

South Ossetia, for its part, accused Georgia over the weekend of violating the agreement and firing at a sentry post inside the rebel region.

Munich - Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is to make a stopover in Munich, Germany, Thursday to meet with Bavarian Premier Horst Seehofer, German officials reported on Tuesday.

The visit is part of a European tour includes a speech to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Valencia, Spain on Tuesday. Saakashvili has been seeking European support in his ongoing struggle with Russia.

The meeting in Munich would be his first visit to Germany as Georgian president.

Paris  - The European Union Council Presidency condemned on Monday in Paris the "increase of clashes in Georgia," expressing its "concern over the security of the international observers."

Putting observers in danger cannot be accepted, the French-led presidency said, calling on all sides of the dispute in the South Caucasus to hold the agreement on a ceasefire.