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May 19, 2009, 11:11 GMT

Russia slims down troop figures for Georgia (1st Lead)

Moscow/Geneva - Russia is set to station fewer troops in the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia than originally planned, Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Kolmakov said Tuesday. The original plan was to have 3,800 soldiers each in the two secessionist provinces, which Moscow recognized as independent states following the fighting in South Ossetia between Georgia and Russia last summer. 'It would not make sense to fully transfer bases to Abkhazia and South Ossetia,' Kolmakov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying. According to Russia's military, lightly armoured units as well as tanks for combat in mountainous terrain would be deployed. Meanwhile, multi-party talks on the security situation in the South Caucasus region began in Geneva Tuesday, after being boycotted by Russia and the two breakaway provinces on Monday. 'We now want to discuss questions of security and stability as well as humanitarian problems,' Russia's chief delegate Grigory Karasin said shortly before the start of the new talks. A United Nations spokeswoman confirmed that all eight parties to the talks were present. The negotiations, now in their fifth round, are chaired by the European Union, the UN and the OSCE. The United States also participates in the talks. The UN spokeswoman said the time for the negotiations would not be extended, in spite of Monday's walk out. Details on any progress reached would be announced later Tuesday. Little substantive ground on has been made on solving the core issues of the conflict and negotiations have mostly focused on day to day security and humanitarian issues.

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