New York  - Georgia on Monday renewed a charge that more Russian troops were being deployed in South Ossetia and Abkhazia despite a ceasefire brokered by the European Union following the brief war in August.

The two breakaway regions have seceded from Tbilisi and are recognized by Moscow.

Moscow  - Two Georgian soldiers were killed when a landmine exploded in a village near the border of the disputed region of South Ossetia, according to a statement by the Georgian Interior Ministry on Monday.

Another nine people including a ten-year-old boy were injured in the blast at around 3 pm (1100 GMT), the ministry said.

According to the statement, the soldiers were in the Georgian village of Pavali to inspect an Russian spy drone that the ministry said crashed in the border zone just hours earlier.

Nice, France - A row over US and Russian plans to site missiles in Europe, the global financial crisis and European Union diplomacy in Georgia topped the agenda Friday when EU and Russian leaders met in the French resort of Nice.

"There should be no (missile) deployment in any enclave until we have discussed the new geo-political terms for pan-European security ... until then, please let's not talk about the deployment of missile shields," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a double-barrelled blast at Russia and the US.

Sarkozy currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU.

London, Nov 14 : French President Nicolas Sarkozy saved the President of Georgia from being hanged “by the balls” — a threat made last summer by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

According to an account that emerged on Thursday from the Élysée Palace, Putin had revealed his plans for disposing of Saakashvili when Sarkozy was in Moscow in August to broker a ceasefire in Georgia, The Times reported.

Moscow - Russia welcomed the EU's decision Monday to re-start partnership talks frozen over Russia's war with Georgia in August.

"We have long been ready to re-start talks," an official with the government headed by Vladimir Putin said on condition of anonymity as Russia has not officially been informed.

EU leaders suspended talks on a new accord that governs its relations with the EU in protest of Russia's occupation of Georgia.

Brussels - The European Union is to re-start talks on a strategic treaty with Russia which it froze after Russia's August war with Georgia, EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels agreed Monday according to diplomatic sources.

EU leaders had frozen talks in protest at Russia's occupation of Georgia, demanding that it pull its troops back to pre-conflict lines. Russia has since made a partial but incomplete withdrawal.