Merkel meets with Georgian president

TBILISI, Georgia, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili in Tbilisi Sunday, signaling her support for Georgia's bid for NATO membership.

Merkel's remarks marked a change from a year ago, when Germany opposed admitting Georgia in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Deutsche Welle reported.

"Georgia will become a member of NATO if it wants to -- and it does want to," Merkel said before talks with Saakashvili.

On Friday, Merkel met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. At the meeting, she reportedly demanded that Russia withdraw all its troops from Georgia.

Medvedev said Sunday that Russian forces would start their withdrawal from Georgia Monday.

"From tomorrow, Russia will begin withdrawing its military forces that are supporting Russian peacekeepers," Medvedev told French President Nicolas Sarkozy in a telephone conversation, the Kremlin said in a statement.