Medvedev: Russia to withdraw from Georgia

MOSCOW, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- President Dmitry Medvedev Monday said Russia's military will withdraw from parts of Georgia within a month but keep troops in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Medvedev met Monday in Moscow for talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, European Union foreign policy coordinator Javier Solana, and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, RIA Novosti reported.

Sarkozy, Barroso and Solana pressed Medvedev to fully implement an EU peace plan negotiated last month to end fighting in Georgia. Russia recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states following Georgia's attack last month on South Ossetia and the subsequent Russian incursion in Georgia.

Medvedev said Russia's decision to recognize the regions was "final and irreversible," though international discussions on the regions' status would proceed in Geneva next month as outlined in the peace deal, Deutsche Welle reported.

Russia, Medvedev said, will withdraw from observation posts between the Georgian towns of Poti and Senaki within a week after the EU deploys at least 200 observers to the buffer zone near South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which under the peace agreement is set to happen by month's end.