French foreign minister pushes peace plan in Georgia

(TBILISI) - French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner on Sunday met with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili to push a European Union-backed peace plan aimed at defusing a spiralling conflict with Russia.

The plan calls for an immediate ceasefire, medical access to victims, controlled withdrawals of troops on both sides and eventual political talks, Kouchner told journalists after the meeting.

"Our task is clear... We must find the means for an immediate ceasefire, accepted by both sides," Kouchner said. "We must talk about negotiations and a political solution, there is no military solution."

Kouchner, who was to travel to Moscow on Monday where he hoped to meet Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, said: "We must move quickly, this is not a diplomatic exercise, it's an exercise of survival."

Saakashvili told journalists that his country was "in a situation without parallel in modern times."

"We are trying to find solutions to save the peace and our country," he said.

But he also said it was "up to the Russians" to end the conflict.

"We didn't enter their territory. They entered our territory and that's when the suffering started," he said.