Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his French counterpart Nicolas
Sarkozy reached yesterday a new agreement on the implementation of a
French-brokered cease-fire between Russia and Georgia.
NEW WITHDRAWAL DEAL
Georgian troops entered and shelled its breakaway region of South Ossetia on
early Aug. 8 in an attempt to regain control there. Russian forces then moved in
and drove Georgian troops out of the region that was run by Russian peacekeeping
forces.
A French-brokered cease-fire stopped the five-day war on Aug. 12 in which
Russia promised to withdraw its troops.
Moscow said earlier it has withdrawn all its troops from Georgia that drove
Georgian troops out of South Ossetia during the war, but the West has been
pressing Moscow on that.
"Russia is carrying out the cease-fire to the full scale," Medvedev said,
claiming that Tbilisi is moving slowly in that aspect.
According to the new agreement read live on local TV channel by the head of
state, Moscow agreed to withdraw its troops from the buffer zone around South
Ossetia within one month and after international forces were deployed there.
Russia will also remove its checking-points and troops from the Black Sea
port of Poti given a non-use-of-force guarantee from Georgia to its nearby
breakaway region of Akbhazia, according to the new deal.
Moscow agreed to deploy 200 EU observers to Georgia by Oct. 1 to monitor the
withdrawal, and an international conference on the Caucasus situation will be
held on Oct. 15 in Geneva.
DISAGREE ON RECOGNITION
Moscow recognized South Ossetia and another breakaway region of Abkhazia as
independent states on Aug. 26, a move that further angered the West.
Sarkozy, heading a EU delegation, condemned Russia's recognition of the
self-proclaimed Caucasus regions.
"We did not agree on everything. EU condemns the unilateral recognition by
Russia to South Ossetia and Akbhazia," he said. "We are not here negotiating the
future, but to make sure the cease-fire was and is fully implemented."
Medvedev, in response, said the recognition was "final and irrevocable" and
refused to change Russia's stance though its recognition was not broadly echoed
in the international community yet.
TENSE IN TIES
Sarkozy arrived in Moscow Monday for talks with Medvedev on the Caucasus
situation that was in tense due to the military conflict between Russia and
Georgia.
Sarkozy and the EU delegation, including European Commission President Manuel
Barroso and foreign policy and security chief Javier Solana, are expected to
head for Tbilisi following talks in Moscow.
The Russian-Georgian conflict further dampened Moscow's frozen relations with
the West that has promised economic aid for Tbilisi.
The EU postponed talks with Russia on a new partnership agreement and the
U.S.-led NATO broke military cooperation with the Kremlin following the
conflict.
In fact, observers believe that the fragile Russian-Georgian relations were a
result of Tbilisi's bid for NATO membership to which Moscow objects as well as
Moscow's support to the pro-Russia breakaway regions.
At the press conference following the talks, Medvedev appreciated EU's
mediation, labeling the 27-member bloc a "key partner", but insisted that
Moscow's decisions were "the only way to save people."