GENEVA – The first high-level talks between Russia and Georgia since their war broke down Wednesday, but international sponsors said the negotiations had only hit a procedural snag and will resume next month.

The delegations from Russia and its allies in the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia left the talks before their scheduled end. Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said the delegation would explain at a news conference later.

“They no longer continue to talk,” U.N. spokeswoman Elena Ponomareva said. “They are finished.”

The talks were called to discuss several issues including whether both sides were complying with an EU-brokered cease-fire, security, the return of refugees and human rights and what steps need to be taken.

Originally, senior ministers were expected in Geneva for substantive discussions. Diplomats said the meeting was downgraded because of differences over the participation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

EU representative Pierre Morel said the talks had “encountered procedural difficulties” and all parties had decided to suspend the meeting. He said they would meet again Nov. 18.

“I don't think at this point it would be useful to go into the details,” Morel said, but he suggested the problem had to do with the status of the breakaway delegations and how to arrange the meetings to include them.

The choice was made to take “some breathing space” to handle the procedural points, said Johan Verbeke, special U.N. envoy for Georgia. “The process is on track.”

Russia arrived 50 minutes late for the opening of the talks, underscoring its objection to the exclusion of representatives from Abkhazia and South Ossetia. A half-hour later, when the meeting moved to a format that included the representatives of the regions, the Georgian delegation left.

Tbilisi considers both regions to be part of Georgia, but Moscow has recognized them as independent countries.

Sessions apparently continued with one party or the other absent until mid-afternoon.

The one-day talks were hosted by the European Union, the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. They received high-level attention from Washington, represented by a delegation headed by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried.

It had been expected that the talks would continue with meetings about every two weeks.

The five-day war broke out Aug. 7 when Georgian forces launched an attack to regain control of South Ossetia. Russian forces repelled the attack and drove deep into Georgia.

Even as they spoke, the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands ordered Russia and Georgia to protect civilians from ethnic violence in the Georgian separatist regions. In an 8-7 ruling, the U.N.'s highest court called on both sides to protect inhabitants of the regions at the center of the conflict.

Georgia had asked the court to order Russia to protect ethnic Georgians, but judges ruled that all civilians were at risk. Court President Rosalyn Higgins said ethnic Georgians and the South Ossetian and Abkhazian populations remain vulnerable.

In Brussels, EU nations were divided at Wednesday's summit meeting on how to deal with Russia and under what conditions to resume partnership talks in the wake of the war in Georgia.

Despite Russia's increasing importance in global politics and the economy, several EU nations wanted to hold off reaching out to Moscow while it remained unclear what would come out of international talks to build on the cease-fire between Russia and Georgia.

Associated Press writers Eliane Engeler and Frank Jordans contributed to this report.