The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Thursday to renew its peacekeeping mission in the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict zone for another four months, reported ap. The council's 15-0 vote buys time for Russia, the United States and the European Union to work out differences over how to proceed with the U.N.'s observer mission in light of the Russian-Georgian war in August. The mission's mandate was extended until Feb. 15. Since 1993, the U.N. has kept dozens of political observers in Abkhazia, which is bordered by Russia to the north, to monitor a cease-fire with Georgia. Normally, the council renews the mandates for its 16 peacekeeping and 12 political and peacebuilding missions a year at a time. The action at the U.N. precedes a round of talks on the conflict scheduled to be held next week in Geneva, Switzerland between leaders including Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, whose special envoy for Georgia, Johan Verbeke of Belgium, just returned from the region.
