Russia agrees to pull troops out of Georgia
Withdrawals will begin once international monitors are set up, according to an agreement today between Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
MOSCOW — Russia will pull its troops out of Georgia proper in one month, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev pledged today, but only after international monitors deploy around the breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Russia agreed to the withdrawal after receiving a security guarantee that Georgia will not attack the Russian-backed republics, said Medvedev, who appeared alongside French President Nicolas Sarkozy after talks in Moscow. Abkhazia and South Ossetia are seeking independence from Georgia.
Under the agreement, 200 international monitors will take up their posts in Georgia just outside the republics by Oct. 1. Within 10 days of the international deployment, the Russian troops will withdraw.
The deal allows both leaders to point to a victory: Medvedev collected a Georgian guarantee against using force; Sarkozy negotiated a Russian withdrawal on behalf of the European Union, which he currently leads.
In their televised news conference, Medvedev and Sarkozy appeared eager to show that the spike of diplomatic hostilities between Russia and Europe has been eased. Each took pains to confer some legitimacy upon the other's arguments.
The European Union's behavior has been "on the whole fairly balanced," conceded Medvedev.
"Everything is absolutely clear," Sarkozy said. "We want partnership and peace, and hardly anybody wants a confrontation between Europe and Russia."
Skirmishes flared into full-blown war one month ago, when Georgia launched its military operation in the rebel province of South Ossetia, home to Russian peacekeeping troops and residents who carry Russian passports. The aggression drew the crushing wrath of Moscow, which sent thousands of troops, tanks and fighter jets to shatter Georgia's U.S.-trained military.
The war ripped open old Cold War animosities as the United States and Europe vehemently condemned Moscow. Russian officials, meanwhile, accused the West of turning a blind eye to the deaths of South Ossetians.
But the fighting was also a stark reminder that Europe's thirst for Russian oil and gas and Russia's reliance on the European market lock the two into a codependence that overshadows even sharp ideological disputes.
Medvedev alluded vaguely to those differences today, telling reporters that he still wasn't satisfied with the EU's response to Georgia's aggression in South Ossetia. Still, he said, the EU position was reasonable compared with "exotic and even extremist viewpoints calling for strange sanctions or other actions against Russia."
