Updated on Tuesday, August 12, 2008, 00:00 IST

Toulon, Aug 12: French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose nation holds the rotating EU presidency, set off on Tuesday for Moscow and then Tbilisi in a bid to halt the fighting in Georgia, officials said.

He left around 7:38 am (0538 GMT) from Toulon city, on the French Mediterranean coast, where he has been on summer holiday.

Sarkozy was first to see Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, and then Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, amid a conflict that began over South Ossetia but now sees Russian troops pushing deeper inside Georgia.

Officals said that Sarkozy would arrive just after 1 pm (0900 GMT) in the Russian capital to see the Russian leader 40 minutes later, with a press conference at 2:40 p.m. local time and then a working lunch.

Sarkozy will then fly to Tbilisi, where he is expected at 7:20 pm for a working dinner 30 minutes later with his Georgian counterpart, followed by a press conference at 8:30 pm.

Bureau Report