Medvedev: Peace, security in Transcaucasia priority

MOSCOW, Aug. 8 -- Russian President Dmitry

Medvedev gives priority to the maintenance of long lasting peace and security in

Transcaucasia, the Kremlin said on Saturday.

Medvedev on Saturday sent a letter to his French

counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy, whose whirlwind diplomacy last year helped secure a

ceasefire deal that ended a brief war between Russia and Georgia. The first

anniversary of the war fell on Saturday.

In his message, Medvedev spoke highly of Sarkozy's

efforts to resolve the conflict last August. He also said Moscow attaches great

importance to talks on safeguarding the stability of the Caucasus region.

Georgia's rebel regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia

broke away from Tbilisi's rule during a war in the 1990s that followed the

collapse of the Soviet Union.

Russia and Georgia fought a five-day war last August,

when Georgia attacked South Ossetia to retake the renegade region that borders

Russia. In response, Moscow sent in troops to drive Georgian forces out of the

region.

Russia recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as

independent states two weeks after the conflict ended.