Putin, Saakashvili discuss South Ossetian settlement by phone

Russian and Georgian Presidents Vladimir Putin and Mikhail Saakashvili discussed the South Ossetian settlement and some key bilateral issues by phone on Friday, the Kremlin press service reported.

The conversation was held on Mr. Saakashvili's initiative.

Georgian-Ossetian tensions have been considerably eased recently, Russian Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov told journalists.

In this connection Moscow sees no need to reinforce the peacekeeping contingent in the conflict area. "This question will be raised at the mixed control commission if necessary," Mr. Ivanov said.

Russia proposed to hold a session of the mixed control commission in Moscow as soon as possible involving top officials of Russian, Georgia, South and North Ossetia, he added.

Igor Ivanov expressed hope that Georgia would give back the military property of Russian peacekeepers, which was detained in the early hours of July 7.

The session should focus on the causes of the past incidents and work out mechanisms to avoid them in the future, Mr. Ivanov stressed.