VIENNA — European security officials think that a cease-fire agreement between Russia and Georgia, brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, is so vaguely worded that Russia can argue that it’s fulfilling its obligations under the pact even if it doesn’t withdraw troops to the positions they held before fighting broke out Aug. 7.
Russia has continued to keep large numbers of troops in Georgia and is building permanent checkpoints there. Russian officials said Wednesday that they planned to construct a “security zone” along the border of South Ossetia, the pro-Russian breakaway Georgian province where fighting began, that will include 18 checkpoints manned by hundreds of soldiers.
Russian troops also were preparing ground Wednesday for what residents think will be two new checkpoints near the strategic Black Sea port of Poti and were building a sentry post 30 miles from the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. Both locations are far from where the fighting occurred.
Georgia and its allies argue that the new installations violate the agreement, which they believe called for all Russian troops to be out of the country by now.
However, security officials who are familiar with the document said that it allowed Russia to keep “peacekeepers” on the ground, without defining their responsibilities and who they’d be. It also allows the “peacekeepers” to pursue “security measures,” without defining what those might entail.
“Russia has everything they need in those principles,” said one European security expert, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic.
“The Russians have very specific ideas, and they control the situation on the ground,” said a security expert with detailed knowledge of the conflict zone, who also asked not to be identified.
