(BRUSSELS) - European foreign ministers said Wednesday that the EU was willing to send monitors to observe a "fragile" truce in Georgia, and would rethink ties with Russia after the week's bloodshed.

The ministers, several of whom cut short their summer holidays to attend the emergency meeting, expressed their "grave concern" over the explosion of violence in the south Caucasus.

They thrashed out a common line on the conflict, resisting pressure from some, mainly eastern European member states, to criticise Russia openly for its military action.

EU powerhouses such as France and Germany, among others, were wary of ruining ties with a resurgent -- and energy-rich -- Russia.

In a separate statement, the leaders of four ex-communist EU states slammed the peace plan, saying it failed to protect their ally Georgia, while Georgian Foreign Minister Eka Tkeshelashvili criticised the world's response to Russia's military campaign.

"We were appealing to everybody in the international community including Russia, saying stop that," she told reporters in Brussels. "Unfortunately no help came."

Russia and Georgia on Tuesday signed a ceasefire, brokered by current EU president France, after Russia announced a halt to the offensive it launched in response to Georgia's attack on the breakaway province of South Ossetia.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said the 27-member bloc was willing to monitor the truce but refrained from speaking of a peacekeeping force.

"We are determined to act on the ground," Kouchner told reporters.

"We are willing to be observers, controllers," he said of the peace plan for Russia and Georgia, hammered out the previous night by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

He added he was "quite optimistic" about Russian acceptance of such a move but said it would be for the United Nations Security Council to determine the shape of any international role in Georgia.

The European presence would supplement 160 observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Despite the truce, Russia faced mounting criticism in the West for its military offensive and ongoing military activity Wednesday.

A number of ministers said the EU should hold up its dealings with Russia to fresh scrutiny after its "aggressive" actions in Georgia.

The EU and Russia held their first talks last month on a sweeping "strategic partnership" aimed at redefining ties between a bigger EU and a more powerful, assertive Russia.

Kouchner said he and his EU counterparts would size up relations with Russia during a further meeting next month.

"We will speak very specifically about that at the Gymnich," Kouchner said, referring to an EU foreign ministers' meeting scheduled September 5 and 6 in the southern French city of Avignon, when asked about EU ties with Russia now.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband called the truce "fragile" and slammed Russia's actions.

"The sight of Russian tanks in Gori, Russian tanks in Senaki, the Russian blockade of Poti, the Georgian port, are a chilling reminder of times that I think we had hoped had gone by," he said.

His Lithuanian counterpart Petras Vaitiekunas reflected a hardline stance in eastern Europe on Moscow's role.

"Of course some consequences must appear of the aggression" displayed by Russia in Georgia.

Their attitude echoed that of the United States and Britain, which both cancelled upcoming joint military exercises with Russia in a first concrete response to the fighting in Georgia.

Washington also got NATO to hold an extraordinary meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels next Tuesday to discuss the Georgia crisis.

However others, including German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, warned against pouring more oil on the fire with recriminations against Russia.

Another minister said at a closed-doors meeting that Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's offensive in South Ossetia had proved to be a "huge cock-up".

General Affairs and External Relations Council on the situation in Georgia

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