German Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to visit Russian President Dmitri Medvedev at the Black Sea resort of Sotchi on Friday for talks focused on the crisis in Georgia.
Her visit had been arranged weeks ago. Merkel is expected to press for a durable ceasefire in Georgia and rapid humanitarian aid for thousands of people displaced by last weekend's Russian-Georgian combat in breakaway South Ossetia. Berlin has also confirmed that on Sunday Merkel will fly to Tbilisi for talks with Georgia's President Saakaschvili. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Thursday that the European Union must keep open the "lines of communication" to both Tbilisi and Moscow to ensure stabilisation of the crisis-hit region. Steinmeier said Germany was considering whether to contribute more staff to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe's mission in Georgia.
(Deutsche Welle)
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