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Oct 16, 2008, 10:55 GMT

Russian troop pull-out not enough, EU leaders agree (Extra)

Brussels - Russia's withdrawal of its soldiers from parts of Georgia outside the breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia is a good start, but it is not enough for EU member states to re-open talks on a strategic deal with Russia, EU leaders agreed Thursday. The EU 'welcomes the withdrawal of Russian troops from zones adjacent to Abkhazia and South Ossetia' but also 'expresses the hope that Russian military forces will be withdrawn to lines prior to the outbreak of hostilities,' EU leaders agreed in a joint statement. That decision dashes the hopes of those politicians who wanted a quick re-start of talks on a key strategic deal with Russia which EU leaders froze at a summit on September 1 following the summer's Russian-Georgian war. The deal was frozen 'until troops have withdrawn to positions they held prior to August 7,' when the war broke out. Ahead of the EU summit in Brussels, some leaders had argued that Russia's withdrawal from all Georgia except the breakaway regions, completed October 9, fulfilled the criterion for restarting talks. The EU's executive, the European Commission, is now tasked with presenting a 'full in-depth evaluation of EU-Russia relations,' which should be presented at the next EU foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels on November 10, the declaration says. That leaves foreign ministers to decide on a relaunch of talks just ahead of an EU-Russia summit, set for November 14.

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