RUSSIA AGREES TO GEORGIA WITHDRAWAL

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Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's president, yesterday agreed to dismantle Russian checkpoints in Georgia and replace its troops with 200 European Union monitors by October 1, a breakthrough in peace negotiations that had been at stalemate for the past several weeks.

On a visit to Moscow, Nicolas Sarkozy, the president of France, said: “Within a week the checkpoints will have been dismantled and, within a month, the Russian troops will have been withdrawn from Georgian territory with the exception of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.”

Mr Medvedev said Russia had agreed to “complete withdrawal of Russian troops from areas adjacent to the line that preceded the beginning of military action”, and this would be implemented within 10 days of the “deployment of international mechanisms”, including 200 EU observers, no later than October 1 2008.