Russian troops will leave Georgia in a month

Russian troops will be pulled out of Georgia within one month, stated French President Nicolas Sarkozy after a meeting with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev. He said that Russian forces will be withdrawn from the whole of Georgia’s territory except Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Sarkozy met Medvedev in Moscow on September 8. Together with Sarkozy, the Russian leader met EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana and the European Commission head, Jose Manuel Barroso. The Russian media has already termed this meeting “the EU-Russian mini-summit.”

Russian news agency Interfax quotes Medvedev as saying that Russian troops will be pulled out as soon as international observers are deployed in the conflict region. He mentioned the involvement of “not less than 200 EU observers” in the peacekeeping mission that will be conducted in South Ossetia.

Speaking to journalists before the meeting, the Russian leader said that Russia still plans to abide by the Sarkozy-Medvedev plan, but is taking into consideration “new realities” in the region. “One very tense month has passed, during which all the necessary actions required by the Medvedev-Sarkozy plan have been taken. Important events have taken place during this time, including the recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia by Russia. These are things that are going to be discussed,” said Medvedev, as quoted by Russian news agency Regnum. Sarkozy stated that a conclusion of the Caucasus conflict is quite achievable if each side “will act in the proper way.”

On the day before this visit Javier Solana announced that the main goal of the mission was to achieve full realization of the August 12 agreement, the so-called Sarkozy-Medvedev plan, that was signed in both Moscow in Tbilisi and led to ceasefire being declared in the region. Tbilisi accuses Moscow of violating this plan and occupying Georgia’s territory. Solana also described the EU plan to send an international commission to the zone of conflict, which will include 150-200 policemen and is intended to replace Russian troops in the buffer zones outside South Ossetia.

The Presidents of Russia and France have also announced that they will conduct further negotiations in Geneva on October 15. These negotiations will concern the status of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and questions of security in the region. On Tuesday, Sarkozy will be in Tbilisi where he will meet Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and discuss the results of his meeting with Russian leader.

Russian newspaper Kommersant, quoting an unnamed source in the Russian Government and representatives of Georgia’s breakaway regions, has published the information that Russia is going to establish official diplomatic relations with Abkhazia and South Ossetia the day following the Medvedev-Sarkozy meeting.