(LUXEMBOURG) - EU foreign ministers Monday agreed that Russia has fulfilled its promise to pull Russian troops out of its buffer zones in Georgia, but stopped short of unfreezing key partnership talks with Moscow.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, presiding over the day-long meeting of his European counterparts, said it "would be wise" for the European Union "to wait a little while" before resuming the negotiations with Russia.

A decision would be made at a summit meeting of European leaders in Brussels on Wednesday and Thursday, he added, cautioning that "I think we need to hurry slowly."

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel-Angel Moratinos said there had be "no common position" on the question, with some member states "waiting to see" how international talks on Georgia, which begin on Wednesday in Geneva, unfold before fixing a date.

Several countries, including Britain, Poland, Sweden and Lithuania have sought a wait-and-see attitude before launching into the stalled talks.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt recalled that European leaders had agreed to freeze the talks until Russian forces withdraw to the positions they held before the outbreak of hostilities with Georgia in early August.

"If you look at the map they aren't in the positions they had prior to August 7," he told reporters.

"They have made the withdrawal primarily from the buffer zones but there are areas they are occupying now where they were not on the 7th of August."

In a written text, the 27 EU foreign ministers agreed that Russian forces "have withdrawn from the zones adjacent to South Ossetia and Abkhazia," the two Georgian breakaway regions, as promised in international agreements last month.

The ministers also voiced satisfaction at the deployment of more than 200 EU observers in Georgia and stressed the need for dealing with the issue of displaced persons from the Russia-Georgia conflict in August.

The EU nations agreed to work towards negotiations on easing visa requirements for Georgians travelling to Europe.

However, the joint statement made no reference to the Russia partnership talks.

Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, who is also current head of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), said the decision to resume talks on the wide-ranging deal with Moscow could be taken just ahead of an EU-Russia summit scheduled for November 14.

Italian counterpart Franco Frattini echoed that "we will have to take stock of the progress made, or not yet made."

EU leaders called off the talks on a strategic partnership agreement with Russia at a special summit on September 1.

One week later Russia agreed to bring its troops out of its buffer zones around the two breakaway Georgian regions, which Moscow has recognised as independent states.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband welcomed the Russian troop withdrawal from the buffer zones as "an important step forward" and highlighted the fact that European monitors were able to operate "in a free and open way" in Georgia.

However he added that "at the moment we should be focusing on ensuring that all those elements that were agreed in September, including the Geneva talks, get going with proper speed," he added.

The international talks on the Georgia situation to start Wednesday are being held under UN, OSCE and EU auspices in Geneva.

Russian troops moved into Georgia on August 8 after Georgia's offensive to try to bring South Ossetia back under Tblisi's control.

General Affairs and External Relations Council meeting - Luxembourg

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