PARIS, July 16 (Reuters) - French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Wednesday he would visit Georgia in September in an effort to help reduce tension in the country. A surge in violence over the last few weeks in the Georgian breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia -- where Russia and Georgia are locked in a standoff -- has worried Western states which fear it could trigger a wider conflict. "I promised to visit Georgia in September, as soon as this visit can be arranged," Kouchner, whose country holds the rotating six-month EU presidency, told a news conference with his Georgian counterpart Ekaterine Tkeshelashvili. Kouchner said on Tuesday he was prepared to visit Abkhazia, but he gave no details at Wednesday's news conference on where in Georgia he would go. Germany's foreign minister is due to go to Georgia this week and asked why he was waiting until September before his trip, Kouchner said: "The German foreign minister is in Georgia at the moment. Let's not hurry." He added that more consultations were needed. "This intervention must have weight, power, effectiveness. So I think it is more reasonable to first talk to our friends, to those who have been very involved." (Reporting by Francois Murphy)
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (R) and party leaders (L-R) Boris Gryzlov of United Russia, Vladimir Zhirinovsky of LDPR, Sergei Mironov of Just Russia and Gennady Zyuganov of the Communist Party take ...
