Russian troops still entrenched in Georgia

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

TBILISI (AFP) — Russian troops on Saturday continued manning positions deep inside Georgia, keeping a grip on a strategic port, as Europe pressed Moscow to pull back further and allow international observers.

Russia withdrew tanks, artillery and hundreds of troops from the heart of Georgia on Friday, saying it had now fufilled all obligations under a French-brokered agreement aimed at ending the two-week-old conflict.

But Russian troops were still controlling access to the western port of Poti and also established a checkpoint just 10 kilometres (seven miles) north of the key city of Gori, AFP correspondents said.

Acting as chair of the European Union, French President Nicolas Sarkozy asked Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev to withdraw his forces from a...