Heidi Tagliavini, a Swiss diplomat, who leads the EU-sponsored inquiry into the August war, met with Grigory Karasin, the Russian deputy foreign minister, on December 9.

“During the conversation upcoming work of the commission [studying the war] was discussed,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a press release.

“The importance of elaborating impartial position about the causes of what has happened [in August] and the exact sequence of events, starting from the beginning of early [19]90s was noted,” it said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry also said that during the meeting the Russian diplomat laid out Moscow’s views on reasons of the August events and its version of timeline ahead of the war.
 
EU formally endorsed on December 2 to create a “fact-finding mission” to probe into “the origins and the course of the conflict... with regard to international law, humanitarian law and human rights, and the accusations made in that context.” EU will provide EUR 1.6 million to fund the mission.

The mission will have eight months to complete its work, with conclusions to be presented to EU, OSCE, Georgia and Russia on July 31, 2009; but the mission could be extended beyond that deadline if necessary.