(From left to right) Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso meet at a presidential residence outside Moscow September 8, 2008.   (Xinhua/AFP Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

     MOSCOW, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in Moscow Monday for talks with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev on the Caucasus situation.

    Sarkozy, accompanied by senior policy-makers of the European Union (EU), is holding talks with Medvedev near Moscow to find solutions to the Russian-Georgian conflict aroused by a five-day war, local media reported.

    "It was rather a tense month, during which all the necessary efforts were made as part of the Medvedev-Sarkozy plan," RIA news agency quoted Medvedev as saying.

    "Important events happened during this time, including Russia's recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states, and certain new approaches are in place for us to adopt while implementing the plan we approved," he said.

    Georgian troops entered and shelled the pro-Russia breakaway region of South Ossetia on early Aug. 8 in an attempt to regain control. Tbilisi's move triggered prompt reaction from Russia, whose troops drove Georgian forces out of the region.

    The military confrontation was eased by a ceasefire agreement brokered by France, under which Russia promised to withdraw its troops.

    Moscow recognized South Ossetia and another breakaway region of Abkhazia as independent states on Aug. 26, a move that further angered the West.

    Sarkozy and the EU delegation, headed by European Commission President Manuel Barroso and EU foreign policy and security chief Javier Solana, are expected to head for Tbilisi following talks in Moscow.

    Moscow has refused to deploy an EU monitoring group in Georgia besides the mandate of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

    "We believe that this will lead to excessive fragmentation of the international monitoring effort, which today is in fact carried out by the U.N. and the OSCE," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said.

    Russia had rejected an OSCE demand to send observers to the conflict zone following the war, but allowed them to visit South Ossetia's regional capital of Tskhinvali last week.