The conflict between Russia and Georgia in South Ossetia has made French president Nicolas Sarkozy call a special European summit on the crisis in Georgia on September 1 2008, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

The statement sent out by Sarkozy's office said that the September 1 summit will discuss the future of EU-Russia relations and providing aid to Georgia at the request of various European countries. France currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union.

According to AFP, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner had warned that Sarkozy might convene an emergency EU meeting if Russia failed to pull back its forces from positions in Georgia.

Under the French-brokered peace agreement, Russia has to pull back its forces from positions in Georgia. On August 22 Russia said it has withdrew its forces from Georgia but reports said that it still had a significant military presence in various key points around South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Sarkozy reportedly had telephoned his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev and asked him to withdraw his forces from a road linking Poti to Senaki in western Georgia.

In related news, the upper house of Russian parliament voted on August 25 in favour of recognising the independence of Georgia's two want-away regions.

"Today we are faced with, I'm not afraid to say, a historic decision, to call upon the president of the Russian Federation to recognize the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia,'' Bloomberg news agency quoted federation council speaker Sergei Mironov as saying.

The State Duma, the lower house of parliament, is scheduled to vote on a similar motion later in the day.