Nogovitsyn noted that "the situation in the Russian peacekeepers' responsibility zones is under their full control, providing favorable conditions for the disengagement of the troops to the designated areas." But he immediately hedged his statement. "We are fully aware that the Georgian side is capable of carrying out provocations toward our troops and civilians at any moment."
Western officials have said the accord calls for the withdrawal of all additional Russian troops sent into the enclaves and Georgia proper after Aug. 7, leaving in place only the peacekeepers already stationed in the two breakaway areas.
The current fighting broke out amid rising East-West tensions over Georgia's drive to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and more closely ally itself with the United States and Europe.
Russia says its troops entered Georgia to quell an attack on South Ossetians, many of whom hold Russian passports. But Georgians say that they were provoked into sending troops into the enclave and that Russia had long planned to attack their country because of its attempt to move out of Moscow's orbit.
Medvedev spoke harshly Monday about the government of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, calling Georgian officials "freaks" prepared to "murder" civilians. He was speaking at an awards ceremony for Russian soldiers who had served in the recent conflict.
"If somebody thinks that he can with impunity murder our citizens, murder our soldiers and officers who are peacekeepers, we will never allow this," Medvedev earlier told a group of World War II veterans in the southern Russian city of Kursk in a speech broadcast on television.
"All those who try to do something like that will get a crushing response," he said. "We have all possibilities for this, economic, political and military."
South Ossetians meanwhile moved to consolidate power in their self-declared republic, which had a population that was one-third ethnic Georgian and two-thirds Ossetian before the latest clashes.
Aid workers fear both Georgians and Ossetians were forcibly displaced during the recent fighting. On Sunday, Eduard Kokoity, self-proclaimed president of South Ossetia, dismissed his government and declared a monthlong state of emergency and a dusk-to-dawn curfew.
"Now it is essentially important to restore order and discipline in the republic," said Irina Gagloyeva, Kokoity's spokeswoman, in a phone interview with The Times.
