(BRUSSELS) - The United States, the European Union and the OSCE are sending a joint delegation to Georgia in a bid to seek a ceasefire in South Ossetia, the French EU presidency said Friday.

"Due to the seriousness of the situation in South Ossetia (Georgia) and the multiple contacts made since yesterday evening by (French) foreign minister Bernard Kouchner, it has been decided that envoys from the Organisation of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the European Union and the United States will go to Georgia to obtain a ceasefire as soon as possible," the EU presidency, currently held by France, said in a statement.

There was no mention of whom the delegation might meet.

An EU official said the European Union's special representative for the southern Caucasus region, Peter Semneby, was already on his way as part of the joint mission.

The full EU, US, OSCE delegation was expected to arrive in Georgia late Friday or early Saturday, he added.

The EU's French presidency said the bloc was working "in liaison with all the protagonists" towards a ceasefire "so as to avoid an extension of the conflict".

The EU "calls on all parties to cease hostilities and to resume negotiations without delay, so as to secure a political solution to the crisis, which respects Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity", it said.

A spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said he has been busy on the phone talking with, among others, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Georgia's Foreign Minister Ekaterine Tkeshelashvili.

A spokesman for the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said the bloc was "extremely concerned at the reports of heavy fighting in the South Ossetian conflict zone and deplores the loss of life."

The 27-nation bloc "stands ready to increase its contribution to conflict resolution in Georgia with confidence-building measures," he added.

Russian tanks and troops entered Georgia's breakaway South Ossetia province on Friday to repel a Georgian military offensive to reclaim the region amid fighting said to have left hundreds dead.

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