Moscow - Russia said on Thursday it had handed over control
in the buffer zones around Georgia's rebel regions to an EU observer
mission as France's foreign minister was due in Georgia to verify the
pull out.
'Control over security in the areas of Georgia adjoining South
Ossetia and Abkhazia since October 9, that is from now on, have
completely passed to the European Union's monitoring mission,'
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko told journalists
at a briefing in Moscow.
'On our side we have done all that we promised and everything to
which our president put his signature to. ... Russia has withdrawn
all of its peacekeepers from the zones,' Nesterenko said.
Under an EU-brokered ceasefire, Moscow has until Friday to
withdraw its troops from positions inside Georgia held since its
five-day war with Georgia two months ago.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, whose country holds the
EU's rotating presidency, was due in Georgia for a two-day visit on
Thursday to verify Russia's compliance with the terms of the
ceasefire.
While Georgia's Foreign Ministry confirmed the pull out of troops
and replaced police forces in the area on Wednesday, Tbilisi voiced
dissatisfaction at the extend of the withdrawal.
Russia plans to keep 3,800 troops in each of Georgia's breakaway
regions, which it recognized as independent in the wake of the
conflict.
Georgian Parliamentary Chairman Davit Bakradze said Russia would
only be in line with the ceasefire deal if it withdrew forces
completely from the rebel regions to pre-conflict positions.
He said Georgian officials would push the issue in talks with
Kouchner.
EU observers and local media report that Russian forces have
abandoned checkpoints around Abkhazia and South Ossetia, but have
kept posts in some disputed border villages.
Russian tanks rolled into Georgia in early August to rebuff
Tbilisi's offensive to retake the de facto independent region of
South Ossetia.
Moscow said it acted to protect its citizens in the pro-Russian
region, where most residents have been issued Russian passports, but
its actions were universally condemned in the West.
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