EU foreign ministers to meet on Georgia Wednesday: source

(BRUSSELS) - European Union foreign ministers will hold a crisis meeting to discuss the bloc's response to conflict in the Caucasus "on Wednesday in Brussels," an EU source said.

The European Union's French rotating presidency had announced Saturday that a meeting would take place this week.

At the request of Poland, the EU presidency said it may subsequently convene an emergency European Council summit gathering heads of government and state.

On Sunday, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner leaves for Georgia where he will propose a three-point peace plan to Tbilisi and Moscow, based on "an immediate cessation of hostilities; the full respect of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia" and "the re-establishment of the situation that existed before."

In a French newspaper interview Sunday, Kouchner said he feared "an escalation of violence" that he said "reminds me all too much of other recent conflicts that have torn our continent apart, particularly in the Balkans."

He urged Russia to accept Georgia's offer to end hostilities, as Tbilisi announced the withdrawal of its forces from the separatist province.

"If one of the protagonists, which appears to be the case, commits to a ceasefire, the other one must do the same," he told Le Parisien.

The EU warned Saturday that Russia's military actions against Georgia could affect ties between the bloc and Moscow.