MOSCOW — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev pledged Monday to withdraw Russian troops from key areas of Georgia after 200 European Union monitors are deployed later this month, part of a revised cease-fire agreement to end conflict in the region.
Georgia President Mikhail Saakashvili countered by stressing that any final settlement with Russia must respect Georgia’s territorial integrity.
Saakashvili was speaking alongside French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who flew to Tbilisi Monday after meeting with Medvedev in Moscow in an effort to salvage the cease-fire that ended last month’s war between Russia and Georgia.
Questions remained whether the Russians would follow through in totally pulling troops from regions surrounding the disputed territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Russia has already recognized the two regions as independent and Medvedev said that decision would not be rescinded.
Still, Russia’s pledge, announced by Medvedev after more than four hours of talks with Sarkozy, appeared to be a concession to international demands that Russia fulfill pledges made as part of a cease-fire agreement last month.
Sarkozy flew to Moscow for meetings with Medvedev to try to salvage the Aug. 12 deal.
Georgia and many Western nations complained that Russia had failed to withdraw troops and follow through on other earlier pledges.
That failure was further underscored as Russian troops on Monday blocked international aid convoys and several European ambassadors from traveling to villages beyond Russian checkpoints in Georgia.
Medvedev said 200 European Union monitors would deploy to regions surrounding South Ossetia and Abkhazia by next month. After that, Russian troops would pull out of those regions by Oct. 11 to a line that preceded last month’s fighting.
Medvedev again insisted that Russia was complying with the cease-fire. He also again lashed out at Georgia’s U.S.-allied leader, Saakashvili, saying he had received “a blessing, either in the form of a direct order or silent approval” from the United States to launch an “idiotic action” against South Ossetia.
“People died and now all of Georgia must pay for that,” Medvedev said.
He said Russian troops would pull out of the Black Sea port of Poti and nearby areas in the next seven days, but only if Georgia signed a pledge to not use force against Abkhazia.
Adding to the uncertainty was the stipulation that any Georgian forces remaining near the separatist regions return to their bases and barracks by Oct. 1 before a full Russian withdrawal could happen.
The deal calls for international talks on refugees and the region’s stability as a whole to be held beginning Oct. 15 in Geneva.
