KEY POINTS:
European Union leaders warned yesterday that Russia faced "isolation" unless Moscow made a "fundamental choice" to back down from its position in the Caucasus.
After an emergency summit in Brussels, EU leaders said relations with Russia had come to a "crossroads". Future economic and political ties "may" depend on Moscow's willingness to remove troops from undisputed Georgian soil and implement an EU-brokered six-point peace plan.
Although no direct sanctions against Moscow were discussed, Britain persuaded its EU partners to postpone talks with Russia later this month on a new economic partnership agreement.
A high-level EU delegation - including the French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and the European Commission president, Jose-Manuel Barroso - will travel to Moscow and Tbilisi next Monday to try to persuade the Russians to reconsider.
Sarkozy, EU Council president until the end of the year, said that the Brussels meeting was not intended as a threat to Russia but as proof that the EU was "entirely united" in defence of its values and international law.
The emergency Brussels summit also brushed aside a blunt warning from the Russian Foreign Minister that the EU should not strengthen its ties with Georgia. EU leaders promised to bolster economic and political links with Tbilisi, including the creation of a free trade area - implying that Georgia might one day be eligible for EU membership.
As expected, no specific sanctions were discussed, at the insistence of a conciliatory group of EU states, including Germany, France, Italy and Finland.
However, at the suggestion of the British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, the summit declaration was beefed up to include a "pause" in negotiations with Moscow on a new EU-Russia partnership agreement on trade and investment.
Alexander Stubb, the Finnish Foreign Minister, said: "There has been too much testosterone flying around. It's time now for everyone to calm down. Otherwise, the consequences could be grave, for everyone, including Russia ... "
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