United Nations Security Council

Minister Frattini continues to follow the situation in Georgia with close concern

Rome 10 August 2008

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Franco Frattini, continues to follow developments in Georgia with close concern. He is liaising with the Premier, Silvio Berlusconi and staying in constant contact with his colleagues in the major EU and Atlantic countries.

Minister Frattini exchanged views today, 10 August, with the French Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner, and the Finnish Foreign Minister, Alexander Stubb, in view of their mission to Tbilisi and Moscow in their roles as, respectively, President of the European Union’s Council of Ministers and current Chairman of the OSCE.

During their talks Minister Frattini stressed the need for the greatest possible cohesion between the countries of the EU on the lines proposed by the French Presidency. He also underscored the timely need for close coordination between the European countries in the United Nations Security Council, and Germany, in order to establish a common position in view of the forthcoming discussions in New York.

The Statements/actions Made by the Key State Persons/ Organizations on Recent Events of August 08.08-10.08.2008

The United States of America

President Bush on Sunday called French President and current EU head Nicolas Sarkozy to discuss the conflict, the White House said;

White House Deputy National Security Adviser Jim Jeffrey said the United States was urgently looking into the report, saying that it would be a very serious escalation for Russia to move into Georgia beyond the Abkhazia region. "We have made it clear to the Russians that if the disproportionate and dangerous escalation on the Russian side continues, that this will have a significant long-term impact on U.S.-Russian relations," said Jeffrey, speaking to reporters in Beijing, China, on Sunday;