Russia announces Georgia withdrawal

MOSCOW, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- Russia said Saturday it will take a week to remove its troops from five checkpoints in western Georgia under its agreement to completely exit the country.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko told the Interfax news agency Russian peacekeepers would pull out from checkpoints positioned between the port city of Poti and the town of Senaki. He said the moves would be accomplished over the next seven days.

The announcement came five days after French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, reached an agreement on the withdrawal of Russia from Georgia proper.

Russian officials said Saturday, however, that peacekeepers would remain in a "security zone" around the breakaway Georgian republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, CNN reported.

That zone is inside Georgia, but Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said the its purpose is to prevent Georgia from launching any further offensives into the breakaway republics.