France's Kouchner leaves on Georgia mediation bid

By Tamora Vidaillet

PARIS (Reuters) - French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner flew to Tbilisi on Sunday on an EU mission to mediate an end to the conflict in Georgia's rebel South Ossetia region, which was under Russian control after Georgia forces retreated.

Russian news agencies reported that French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country is the current EU president, would this week travel to Russia as part of international efforts to end the fighting.

"The President believes that there now exists a real chance of quickly finding a way out of the crisis," following the retreat of Georgian forces from the region, Sarkozy's office said in a statement.

Russian news agencies quoted Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Sunday as telling the French leader in a telephone conversation that Tbilisi should immediately sign a formal pledge not to attack South Ossetia.

Sarkozy, who also spoke to Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and other world leaders on Sunday, believed a pledge not to engage in violence in the future would help facilitate a solution in the short term, the presidency statement said. It would also help make a ceasefire sustainable, it added.

Kouchner's departure on Sunday made him the first senior international figure to fly to the Georgian capital since the three-day conflict in breakaway South Ossetia erupted.

Russia poured troops and tanks across its southern border into Georgia and bombed Georgian targets after Tbilisi attempted on Thursday evening to retake South Ossetia, a small pro-Russian province which broke away from Georgia in the 1990s.

Kouchner was to meet Saakashvili before travelling to Moscow on Monday for talks with Russian leaders, the French Foreign Ministry said.

"We don't want the conflict to spread in a region which is extremely volatile and dangerous," he told French radio ahead of his departure.

A French plan to end the conflict calls for an immediate end to hostilities, the withdrawal of forces to positions held before August 6 plus some form of international presence, and the respect of Georgian territorial integrity.

Kouchner would offer French and EU humanitarian aid during his visit and a French plane would be ready to leave for Tbilisi from Monday, the French foreign ministry said.

The French minister would report on his trip to EU foreign ministers at an emergency meeting in Brussels on Wednesday called to discuss the South Ossetia crisis, the ministry said.

(Editing by Jon Boyle)