GENEVA, December 18 (RIA Novosti) - A new round of talks on the disputed Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia will be held in Geneva on February 17-18, a European Union envoy said on Thursday.

Pierre Morel said the decision was taken during the third round of international consultations involving representatives of the two republics, Georgia, the EU, the OSCE, the UN, Russia and the United States.

Russia recognized the two Georgian breakaway republics as independent states on August 26 after a five-day war with Georgia, which had attacked South Ossetia to bring it back under central control. Nicaragua has so far been the only other country to recognize the republics.

Shootings and abductions have been reported along the de facto border between Georgia and South Ossetia since after the armed conflict, with the sides blaming each other for continuing violence.