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Russian president vows to pull out troops from Georgia on time |
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11:17, October 02, 2008 |
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday that Russian troops will withdraw from Georgian territory next week as set in ceasefire agreements.
"As was agreed Russian peacekeepers will be fully withdrawn from the territory of Georgia by Oct. 10," Interfax news agency quoted him as saying following talks with visiting Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero in St. Petersburg.
According to French-brokered ceasefire agreements between Russia and Georgia, Moscow is to withdraw its troops from Georgian territories bordering on the Abkhazian and South Ossetian conflict zones by Oct. 10 as the first step.
The observer mission of the European Union has officially started work and entered a Russian-controlled buffer zone on Wednesday to monitor the withdraw.
The Russian head of state also ruled out a new cold war amid the soured relations between Moscow and the West.
"Today we don't have any ideological differences which could spark off a cold or any other war ... The cooperation is no less important for them than for us. Ultimately everything will be restored in full," he said.
Georgian troops launched a sudden attack against its breakaway region of South Ossetia on early Aug. 8 to reclaim control over the Caucasus region. Russia sent in troops the next day and defeated the Georgian forces.
The military conflict was stopped on Aug. 12 with a France-brokered ceasefire pact in which Moscow promised to pull out its troops. A follow-up agreement set a timetable for the withdrawal of Russian troops and for the deployment of foreign observer missions.
South Ossetia and Abkhazia broke from central Georgian rule in the early 1990s following the collapse of the former Soviet Union. Moscow recognized the two regions as independent states on Aug. 26.
Source: Xinhua
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