U.S. President George W. Bush and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy have agreed that Russia is "not in compliance" with a ceasefire agreement for Georgia, U.S. National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said Friday.
In their telephone discussion, the two leaders "shared assessments on the situation in Georgia ... agreed that Russia is not in compliance and that Russia needs to come into compliance now," Johndroe told reporters.
"It's not only what we expect. That's what the French expect. That's what the European Union expects. Frankly, it sounds like it's just about what the whole world expects," the spokesman noted.
Also on Friday, the State Department criticized Russia for failing to live up to its ceasefire agreement with Georgia.
"The Russians have finally begun to move their forces out of Georgia, but they have failed to live up to their obligations under the ceasefire agreement.
"We call on Russia to adhere to that agreement fully and we want to see them adhere to it and move those forces out as soon as possible," State Department spokesman Robert Wood said.
Georgia launched attacks against its breakaway South Ossetia on Aug. 7 in an attempt to regain control of the breakaway region bordering Russia.
In retaliation, Moscow sent in troops that drove Georgian forces out of the region and took over parts of Georgian territory.
Moscow promised in a French-brokered cease-fire agreement that it will withdraw its troops as of Friday. Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said earlier in the day that Russia has withdrawn its troops from Georgia to South Ossetia "as planned."
South Ossetia, formerly an autonomous region within Georgia, declared independence from the former Soviet republic in the early 1990s. However, its independence has not been internationally recognized.
Source: Xinhua
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