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Russians 'agree Georgia deadline' | Russians 'agree Georgia deadline' |
(20 minutes later) | |
Russia has pledged to remove its forces from Georgian land - excluding Abkhazia and South Ossetia - within a month, French President Nicolas Sarkozy says. | Russia has pledged to remove its forces from Georgian land - excluding Abkhazia and South Ossetia - within a month, French President Nicolas Sarkozy says. |
Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev, who met Mr Sarkozy in Moscow, said the pull-out would happen once 200 EU monitors had been deployed in South Ossetia. | |
Mr Medvedev said he would also need assurances that Georgia would not try to use force in the region again. | |
But he made no mention of withdrawing troops from South Ossetia or Abkhazia. | |
And he defended Russia's controversial decision to recognise the independence of both of the breakaway regions, saying the move was "irrevocable". | |
Among other measures announced after the talks, Russia agreed to remove a key checkpoint from near the port of Poti within a week - but only if Georgia signed a pledge to not use force against Abkhazia. | |
And Mr Medvedev said there would be international talks on the conflict, which would take place in Geneva on 15 October. | |
The two leaders took part in more than three hours of talks, which also involved the EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, and the European Commission head, Jose Manuel Barroso. | The two leaders took part in more than three hours of talks, which also involved the EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, and the European Commission head, Jose Manuel Barroso. |
Mr Sarkozy was pressing Russia to meet the terms of the ceasefire agreement and withdraw its troops from Georgia. | Mr Sarkozy was pressing Russia to meet the terms of the ceasefire agreement and withdraw its troops from Georgia. |
Russia had said the deal allowed it to keep peacekeepers in several buffer zones around two breakaway Georgian regions. | |
Russian troops entered Georgia after responding with force to Georgian attempts to recapture South Ossetia last month. | Russian troops entered Georgia after responding with force to Georgian attempts to recapture South Ossetia last month. |