Georgia urges Russia to give peace a chance

As conflicting reports come in of the state of Russia’s troop withdrawal, Georgia President’s Mikheil Saakashvili has called for direct peace talks.

In a televised address, he struck a conciliatory tone and urged the Kremlin to discuss ways to avoid “discord for future generations.”

In the past, Saakashvili has launched repeated stinging verbal attacks on Moscow, accusing Russia of a string of human rights abuses inside Georgia, including “ethnic cleansing”.