The OSCE chairman, Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht, in a statement on 22 February called on all parties involved in the conflict to exercise restraint and to refrain from any unilateral action that might further raise tensions.
He expressed regret that a meeting of the Joint Control Commission (JCC) on the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict could not take place as planned on 20-21 February in Vienna.
The JCC, which monitors implementation of the 1992 cease-fire agreement, includes, Georgia, its breakaway republic of South Ossetia, Russia, and the Russian republic of North Ossetia.
De Gucht said he would send his special representative, Pierre Chevalier, back to the region to discuss possibilities of holding a meeting at the political level soon.
