UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on October 7 that he would participate in talks in Geneva next week with the European Union and OSCE concerning the situation in Georgia.

Bernard Kouchner, the French foreign minister, whose country now holds the EU presidency, said in late September that he would be meeting in Geneva on October 14 with OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb to discuss Georgia.

The meeting will come a day before the start of the Geneva talks on security and stability in the region, as was agreed between the Russian and French presidents on September 8. The meeting will take place on the expert level on October 15.