The United States will join the talks Russia and Georgia are holding on Wednesday following their war in August, diplomats said on Monday.

The talks, organized by the European Union, United Nations and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), aim to promote stability and security in the region and help refugees and displaced people hit by the fighting.

U.S. participation seems to have been part of diplomatic wrangling in the run-up to the talks, which will also see officials from Georgia''s breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkazia taking part only in informal sessions.

Months of skirmishes between separatists and Georgian troops erupted into war in August when Georgia sent troops and tanks to retake the pro-Russian rebel region of South Ossetia, which threw off Tbilisi''s rule in 1991-92. Russia responded with a powerful counter-strike that drove the Georgian army out of South Ossetia.