The British Foreign Office official in charge of European policy called on Russia and Georgia to exercise restraint and avoid inflammatory statements in order to maintain regional stability.

Minister for Europe Geoff Hoon, who is visiting Georgia on October 9-10, said that “the UK wants to see an early solution to the current difficulties in Georgian-Russian relations.”

“We have raised with the Russians the desirability of their lifting as soon as possible the measures they have introduced. But equally we look to the Georgian authorities to act constructively,” Hoon said in a statement issued by the British Embassy in Tbilisi.

“The UK firmly believes that the serious and challenging issues underlying this dispute can only be resolved with the full and constructive involvement of the Russian and Georgian authorities, working together with the support of the international community to reach mutually acceptable solutions,” he added.