In her speech at the OSCE summit in Astana, on December 1 U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for restoration of “a meaningful OSCE presence in Georgia”.

OSCE mission in Georgia was closed down after Russia blocked extension of its mandate after the August, 2008 war.

Clinton, who met with President Saakashvili on the sideline of the OSCE summit, said in her speech: “It is regrettable that a participating state has proposed to host a mission and the OSCE has not been allowed to respond. We here at this table must let this organization do its job and restore a meaningful OSCE presence to Georgia.”
 
She has also called on “all parties to fully respect” August 12 and September 8, 2008 ceasefire agreements and welcomed President Saakashvili’s unilateral pledge of non-use of force made on November 23 in his address to the European Parliament.

“We hope this pledge can help us break new diplomatic ground,” Clinton said.