U.S. and Russia agree to make S. Ossetia peace effort

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and Russia have agreed to work jointly to end fighting in Georgia's breakaway South Ossetia region, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Dan Fried said in an interview on Thursday.

Fried told Reuters he had just spoken with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin by telephone, and "we both agreed to work together to get the fighting stopped in South Ossetia, and encourage political dialogue."

South Ossetian separatists appear to have started the latest flare-up of violence, Fried said.

"It appears that the South Ossetians have instigated this uptick in violence," he said. "We have urged the Russians to urge their South Ossetian friends to pull back and show greater restraint. And we believe that the Russians ... are trying to do just that," he said.