Putin Reiterates Russia will Keep Troops in S.Ossetia, Abkhazia

The presence of Russian troops in Abkhazia and South Ossetia depends only on agreement between Moscow and the two regions, Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, said on September 20.

Speaking after meeting with his French counterpart, Francois Fillon, in Sochi, Putin said that Moscow was committed to the September 8 agreement between the French and Russian presidents. He said that Russian troops would pull out from the areas adjacent to South Ossetia and Abkhazia within 10 days of EU monitors being deployed there, as envisaged by the agreement. Russia has removed five outposts on the Poti-Senaki line. EU monitors are expected to be deployed no later than October 1.

Putin, however, stressed that the presence of Russian troops in Abkhazia and South Ossetia was a “separate issue.”

“The question of the presence of our armed forces on these territories will be decided bilaterally, in the framework of international law and on the basis of agreements between Russia and these states [referring to breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia],” Putin said at a joint news conference with his French counterpart.

The August 12 six-point ceasefire plan agreed by the Russian and French presidents says that “Russian armed forces will be pulled back to pre-conflict lines.” Although the follow-up agreement between the Russian and French presidents signed on September 8, does not reiterate this point, it does say that the sides reaffirm their commitment to the terms of the August 12 accord.

Russia insists that the reality has changed since August 12 as Moscow has already recognized the two breakaway region’s independence since then. On September 20, PM Putin said that the Kosovo precedent undermined the argument against Russian recognition of Georgia’s two breakaway regions.

“It is not we who opened this Pandora’s box,” he said.

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said at the same news conference, according to Reuters, that French President Nicolas Sarkozy was satisfied the provisions of the ceasefire agreement were being carried out. He said this boded well for the restart of talks on a new EU-Russia deal, which were suspended by the EU following the August war.

“The EU position is clear: we hope the talks will resume as soon as the provisions of the Medvedev-Sarkozy plan are carried out,” Reuters quoted PM Fillon as saying. “There are no reasons not to resume talks early next month.”

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