Russian tanks and troops withdrew Friday, Aug.
22, from Georgian territory to let Georgian police regain control of the region.
"The pullback of Russian troops and units passed without incident and was completed on time," Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said in a statement, according to AFP news service. "Thus, the Russian side has fulfilled ist obligations."
The Georgian government confirmed Friday that Russia has pulled some troops out of key cities but is still manning checkpoints.
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As a result, US President George W. Bush and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who currently holds the EU presidency, called on Russia to "continue and complete" its withdrawal from Georgia.
No compliance?
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Bush spoke with Sarkozy on the phone "We are not seeing that they are in compliance right now," Gordon Johndroe, a White House spokesman, said in Crawford, Texas, where Bush is vacationing. "They have not completely withdrawn from areas considered undisputed territory. And they need to do that."
Bush spoke on the telephone with Sarkozy, who brokered the ceasefire agreement between Russia and Georgia on Aug. 11. But Russia has continued to position soldiers outside of the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and deep into Georgian territory.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband also said that he was "deeply concerned" by Russia's failure to completely withdraw from Georgia.
Georgia
wants international peacekeepers
Georgia's President Mikheil Saakashvili meanwhile called for international peacekeepers in the conflict zone around the country's two breakaway provinces, Georgian media reported.
"The preservation of Georgia's territorial integrity is impossible without an internationalization of the peacekeeping troops," Saakashvili said at a meeting of the country's national security council late Friday.
But the breakaway regions Abkhazia and South Ossetia are opposed to an international peacekeeping force, currently being discussed by the European Union.
Russian forces have retreated from the central Georgian city Gori, but continued to control access to the important Black Sea port Poti and other cities in western Georgia and Abkhazia, Saakashvili said.
Caught by surprise
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Saakashvili got more than he bargained for Moscow said Friday that despite its withdrawal from central Georgia, its forces would remain in buffer zones around South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Saakashvili admitted that he had been surprised by the scale of Russia's response despite his own warnings of Russia's aggression.
"I could not have imagined that it would be such a big invasion," he was quoted as saying.
Some analysts say Saakashvili provoked the Kremlin by attacking South Ossetia, which is under Russian protection.
(Deutsche Welle)
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