The UN Security Council held Saturday a fresh meeting to review the situation in the breakaway South Ossetia enclave where fighting between Russia and Georgia continued for a third day, dpa reported.
Russia, a veto power on the 15-nation council, called for the closed-door meeting a day after the body held an open debate to hear views from Russian and Georgian representatives as well as those of council members. The council did not issue any formal statement on its position.
Georgia's UN Ambasador Irakli Alasania urged the council in Friday's meeting to use its authority to end the fighting, saying his country was ready to negotiate a ceasefire if Russia would immediately withdraw its troops from Georgian territory.
Alasania accused Russia of mounting a "full-scale military invasion" of Georgia with tanks and combat troops, backed by airstrikes.
Moscow had accused Georgia of violating an agreement that ended fighting in South Ossetia in 1996 by attacking the breakaway region. South Ossetia had declared independence from Tbilisi, which opposed it, in the early 1990s following the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Georgia, a former Soviet republic, had been at odds with Moscow, charging it with interfering into its internal politics. Tbilisi has also been in conflict with Moscow over its province of Abkhazia, which has also demanded secession.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported this week that thousands of civilians fled South Ossetia for neighbouring North Ossetia-Alania, in Russia, while hundreds of others have fled to other parts of Georgia.