Russia will complete the pullout of its forces from Georgia by midnight, but its peacekeepers will remain in the buffer zone along the line of control
MOSCOW: Russia will complete the pullout of its forces from Georgia by midnight, but its peacekeepers will remain in the buffer zone along the line of control which existed on August 7 before Tbilisi's offensive to regain breakaway province of South Ossetia.
"Only Russian peacekeeping units will remain at specially equipped security check-posts within the limits of security zones established in line with coordinated security principles, which Russia strictly abides by," Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said.
According to Deputy Chief of General Staff, Col-Gen Anatoly Nogovitsyn, except for a limited number of army personnel deputed on South Ossetia peacekeeping mission will be withdrawn back to their barracks in Russia.
Russia under scathing attack from Washington and NATO on Friday got a shot in the arm, when the US Ambassador John Beyrle conceded that Moscow was right when it retaliated Georgian attack on its peacekeepers in South Ossetia.
"From the very beginning we repeated that this conflict cannot be resolved by force. Till the last moment we dissuaded the Georgian side not to do this. And now we are convincing the Russian side to respect ceasefire agreement and withdraw its troops from the Georgian territory," Beyrle told Kommersant daily adding that Russian troops' response to attack on its peacekeepers in South Ossetia was "quite justified".
Meanwhile, responding to the NATO decision to freeze ties with Russia till withdrawal of troops from Georgia, the Russian Defence Ministry has suspended military cooperation with the US-led Western alliance and has recalled its NATO
envoy for consultations.
"Cooperation with NATO is a complex issue, and until Russia's political leaders have made a decision on what is involved, the Defence Ministry has suspended military cooperation with the alliance," Moscow's NATO envoy Dmitry Rogozin was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.
NATO foreign ministers said on Tuesday that the alliance was freezing contacts with Russia until it pulled its troops out of Georgia, but stopped short of stronger measures as demanded by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that the country's future ties with NATO depend on how the Western military alliance chooses to act.
"We are not planning to slam the door, and they are also keeping the door open. Everything depends on the priorities that NATO chooses, not on us," Lavrov said.
Russian State Duma (lower house) has convened its emergency session on Monday to discuss the requests of Georgia's breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia to recognise their independence.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}