AVIGNON, France, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Russia is allowing international observers to move freely through Georgia, including in the buffer zones around rebel South Ossetia, the head of security body OSCE said on Saturday.

The development comes days before French President Nicolas Sarkozy travels to Moscow for a meeting with Russian officials to assess their compliance with a French-brokered peace plan to halt last month's conflict.

"I've gotten reports throughout the night ... and actually the OSCE monitors are now moving around quite freely," Alexander Stubb, Finland's foreign minister and chairman in office of the 56-nation Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, told reporters on the sidelines of an EU meeting.

"We've had very good access. I think we're working at it and the Russians are, I'd argue, opening up," Stubb added.

Russia and Georgia fought a brief war last month. Despite the peace deal, Moscow has kept troops in these so-called "security zones" on Georgian territory beyond South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another rebel region.

The West says the accord does not allow for buffer zones, and Sarkozy will discuss with President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday whether Russia is ready to stick to the plan.

The OSCE currently has 20 monitors in Georgia and its general assembly will meet on Monday and Tuesday to increase their number, Stubb said.

Asked about the chances of agreement during Sarkozy's visit, in which he will take part, EU foreign policy chief Solana said: "I think it will be possible".

The EU and the United States have condemned Moscow's actions in South Ossetia as disproportionate, but some Western officials were dismayed by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's attempt to solve the long-frozen conflict with military force.

The European Union said on Friday it was "practically ready" to send around 200 civilian monitors to Georgia, on top of the OSCE monitors, while Germany and Italy led calls for an inquiry into the outbreak of the South Ossetia conflict. (Reporting by Paul Taylor and Mark John; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Mark John/Keith Weir)

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