(BRUSSELS) - An emergency EU summit on Monday will boost support to Georgia and warn Russia there can be "no business as usual" in relations but refrain from imposing sanctions, officials said Friday.

"We are still in a phase of dialogue with Moscow, not in a phase of sanctions," said a source in the office of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency.

"The time for sanctions has not yet come."

The emergency summit in Brussels will have to try to paper over divisions about the best way to tackle Moscow's actions.

Many of the EU's ex-communist members plus Britain and Sweden have pushed for a tougher line than a group of countries led by France and Germany.

The EU has already expressed its strong condemnation of Moscow's decision this week to recognise the independence of the rebel Georgian regions of Abhkazia and South Ossetia, at the heart of the conflict.

"The situation, with that decision, stops us from having perfectly normal relations. There can be no business as usual in this context," said a senior French diplomat.

A similar line used by NATO on August 19 led Moscow to freeze cooperation.

The summit, scheduled to last about three hours, will see a pledge of more aid for Georgia, whose assault on South Ossetia on August 7 was the catalyst for a major Russian military offensive.

The leaders will also examine ways to bolster Georgia's economy, and kickstart work on a free-trade area, the presidency said.

They are expected to propose easing visa restrictions for Georgian citizens, bringing procedures up to a par with the rules applied for Russians.

But a potential minefield lays in wait in tackling relations with Russia, Europe's major supplier of oil and gas as well as a key trade partner.

The EU has struggled for two years to update its framework for relations. The previous accord dates from 1997, when Russia was still suffering economically from the break-up of the Soviet Union.

Many diplomats want to see how Russia acts next in the standoff.

"We are not seeking isolation. We are certainly not seeking a confrontation. We are available, but there are a whole lot of questions," the French diplomat said.

"It's decision time for Russia, and this means that relations between the European Union and Russia are at a crossroads."

No consensus had been found by Friday on whether to cancel talks on Russia-EU ties, which began last month, and the question could be left for EU foreign ministers to sort out when they meet in France on September 5.

The source in Sarkozy's office said the leaders would state a six point ceasefire accord between brokered between Russia and Georgia by the French president "must be applied in its entirety."

The issue of sanctions appears, for now, to have been dropped.

On Thursday, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said some EU states were considering sanctions on Russia, but the French presidency said Friday that the summit will not call for sanctions.

Russia has said any such move would hurt the EU at least as much as Moscow.

"We hope that reason will prevail over emotions and that EU leaders will find the strength to reject a one-sided assessment of the conflict," a Russian foreign ministry spokesman affirmed Friday.

For the EU, the French diplomat said: "What counts on Monday is that there is the highest level confirmation that there is a common analysis, willingness, and the expression of a unified message."

Extraordinary European Council meeting on the situation in Georgia

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