U.N. fails to agree statement on South Ossetia fighting

"We regret it has not yet been possible to agree a Security Council statement on this issue," Britain's deputy ambassador Karen Pierce said during an emergency meeting called by Russia. "We hope it will be possible in the days to come," she added.

The council meeting was called by Russia following violent clashes as Georgian forces surrounded South Ossetia's main city.

South Ossetian officials said 15 civilians had been killed in bombing by Georgian fighter jets and heavy mortar shelling. There was no word of any military casualties.

Late Thursday, the 15-member council kicked off closed-door consultations on a Russian statement that would have urged Georgia and Moscow-backed South Ossetia separatists to end the violence and return to the negotiating table.

The statement would have expressed "serious concern at the escalation of violence," called on both sides to cease hostilities "without delay" and renounce the use of force" and urged the parties to "return immediately to the negotiating table."

But after more than two hours of bargaining, Council members were unable to find common ground on the Russian text.

Belgium's U.N. Ambassador Jan Grauls, who chairs the council this month, said members "expressed serious concern at the escalation of violence and asked for an immediate resumption of dialogue."

But he also acknowledged that, due to the late hour, the 15-member council "was not in a position" to agree on a text.

The key sticking point, according to Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, was "the reluctance" of some council members to accept a reference to the need for the warring parties "to renounce the use of force."

Churkin said he had warned the council over the past few days about a Georgian military buildup in South Ossetia and condemned Tbilisi's refusal to renounce the use of force to settle its dispute with its breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Although Georgia is not a council member, its ambassador to the U.N. Irakli Alasania was invited to take part in the debate.

Alasania said his government acted "in self-defense after repeated provocations" by South Ossetia separatists who he said shelled Georgian villages.

He also charged that Russian military and security officers were serving with the secessionists and said Moscow had enough leverage on the rebels to bring them to the negotiating table.

The Georgian envoy said several council members backed his call on Russia to end "the transit of military equipment and mercenaries" through its territory in support of the South Ossetia separatists.

Meanwhile Frances deputy ambassador Jean-Pierre Lacroix urged "an immediate resumption of dialogue with a view to a ceasefire," warning that the escalating violence was "a clear threat to peace and security in the region."

The flurry of U.N. diplomatic activity came as battles raged in South Ossetia Friday, with Georgian troops reaching Tskhinvali after an overnight offensive aimed at bringing the Russia-backed breakaway province to heel.

South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity insisted his forces were still in control of the city, but Georgia claimed to have Tskinvali surrounded.

In recent months, Moscow and Tbilisi have sparred repeatedly over South Ossetia -- which broke away from Tbilisi’s control in the early 1990s -- and another breakaway Georgian region, Abkhazia.

Georgia’s pro-Western government accuses Moscow of seeking to annex the two regions and derail its efforts to join the transatlantic NATO alliance, which Russia vehemently opposes.