Russia slims down troop figures for Georgia (Roundup)

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 announcement came as negotiators met in Geneva to hold their fifth round of talks on last summer's conflict. The round got off to a rough start on Monday, after Abkhazia did not show, and South Ossetia left, followed by Russia. The talks Tuesday, however, were 'the most in-depth, substantive discussions we have had since the start of discussions,' said Pierre Morel, the chief negotiator for the European Union. The first round took place last October, when again delegations also walked out and discussions hardly got under way. His other two co-chairs, Charalampos Christopoulos from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the UN's Johan Verbeke, concurred. The progress appeared limited to procedural issues and commitments. The co-chairs would be responsible at the next round for preparing the working papers for the humanitarian issues, such as refugees, housing and water, instead of the parties to the conflict. Also, the parties renewed their commitment to incident prevention mechanisms, meant to reduce violence. These mechanisms were announced last time, but did not get off the ground, except for one meeting in South Ossetia. The negotiators, which also include the United States, said they believed progress on security issues would lay the ground work for the sides to deal with the underlying issues of the conflict, which go back nearly two decades. The sides agreed to meet again on July 1 in Geneva for the sixth round of talks. Russia's original plan for the troops 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.