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Georgia agrees to France's modified peace proposal
By News Agencies
Tags: Bush, Russia, U.S., Georgia

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his Georgian counterpart Mikheil Saakashvili said on Wednesday they had agreed to a modified version of a peace plan with Russia over the breakaway region of South Ossetia.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered a halt to military operations in Georgia on Tuesday in support of the international peace plan promoted by Sarkozy, who flew to Georgia after meeting Medvedev in Moscow.

"It is a political document. It is an agreement of principles ... and I think we have full coincidence of principles," Saakashvili told a joint news conference with Sarkozy.
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The changes made had been approved by Medvedev and included removing a reference to talks on the future status of South Ossetia, the two men said.

Moscow will agree to peace with Georgia if it removes its troops far beyond the borders of South Ossetia and signs a legally binding promise not to attack it, Russia's foreign minister said on Tuesday.

Medvedev and Sarkozy - in Moscow to mediate between the rival states - agreed on principles aimed at putting a stop to five days of conflict over Georgia's small separatist province.

Sarkozy was representing the European Union, since France now holds the EU's rotating presidency.

The principles the two leaders discussed included a ceasefire, a pledge to renounce force, free passage for humanitarian aid and the withdrawal of troops to their bases. The need to determine the future status of South Ossetia, which seeks full independence from Georgia, was also mentioned.

"These principles either reflect Russia's demands to the Georgian leadership or its intentions concerning the pace and aims of its peacekeeping operation in South Ossetia," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters.

Lavrov made it clear that Moscow sought tough terms - the non-use of force and a troop pullout were core demands, he said.

Saakashvili's pledge not to attack the province, made after talks with the French and Finnish foreign ministers in Tbilisi on Monday, was not enough, Lavrov added.

"So far this has only been fixed in an informal political form," he said. "It requires the signing of a legally binding treaty on the non-use of force. This is a key point."

Georgian troops, which pushed into South Ossetia to restore Tbilisi's control after 16 years of self-proclaimed independence, should leave the border zone, he added.

"This is an absolutely binding condition that the Georgian side is to pull back its forces not only from South Ossetia, but also from other areas of Georgia from which they can shell and bomb the region," Lavrov said.

Lavrov was confident that Sarkozy, who flew to Tbilisi in the evening, would persuade Saakashvili to back the plan.

But he said Russia, which ordered its troops in the province to halt fire on Tuesday, was ready to be firm.

When asked what would happen if Georgia failed to back the plan, Lavrov said: "We will be forced to take other measures to prevent any repetition of the situation that emerged because of the outrageous Georgian aggression."

Earlier Tuesday, Medvedev announced that he had ordered an end to the military operation in Georgia, the Kremlin said.

"On the basis of your report, I have taken the decision to bring to an end the operation to force the Georgian authorities to peace," Medvedev told Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, according to a Kremlin spokesman.

Meanwhile, Georgia on Tuesday said that Russian jets were bombing villages outside South Ossetia in Georgia proper.

"Despite the Russian president's claims earlier this morning that military operations against Georgia have been suspended, at this moment, Russian fighter jets are bombarding two Georgian villages outside South Ossetia," the Georgian government said in a statement.

A spokeswoman for European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Tuesday said that Medvedev told the European Union of his order.

"Medvedev in a telephone conversation confirmed to Mr. Solana he has given the order to stop military operations. The phone conversation has just now finished," Solana's spokeswoman, Cristina Gallach, told Reuters.

"Mr. Solana welcomed this decision. He recalled the importance of peace and stability in the region and expressed the EU's readiness to contribute actively to a solution to the crisis."

The 27-nation bloc has been calling for an immediate cease-fire and urged Russia to respect Georgia's territorial integrity, but stopped short of blaming either side for the fighting that erupted last week in the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia.

EU foreign ministers will hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday in Brussels to discuss the crisis.

Russian FM: We're not planning to topple Georgia Pres

Shortly before Medvedev's announcement, Lavrov declared that Moscow has no intention of toppling Georgia's president during its conflict with the former Soviet republic.

"It is not in our traditions to topple anyone or put someone on a throne," Lavrov told a news conference alongside Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, current chairman of the Organization for European Security and Cooperation.

Lavrov also said Moscow could not agree with a peace proposal by European Union and the organization's mediators if it included the presence of Georgian troops in any new peacekeeping unit.

"We can hardly agree with this because it would assume the presence of people described as Georgian peacekeepers. They can no longer remain," Lavrov said. "They brought shame on themselves as peacekeepers. They committed crimes and shot at comrades with whom they served in the same peacekeeping unit."

Meanwhile, U.S. President George W. Bush on Monday demanded that Russia end a dramatic and brutal escalation of violence in Georgia, agree to an immediate cease-fire and accept international mediation to end the crisis in the former Soviet republic.

"Russia has invaded a sovereign neighboring state and threatens a democratic government elected by its people. Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st century," Bush said in a televised statement from the White House.

Almost immediately after his return from the Olympics in China, Bush warned Russia in his strongest comments since the fighting erupted over Georgia's separatist South Ossetia region last week to reverse the course it appears to be on and abandon any attempt to topple Georgia's pro-western government.

The U.S. President called on Moscow to sign on to the outlines of a cease-fire as the Georgian government has done.

"The Russian government must reverse the course it appears to be on and accept this peace agreement as a first step toward solving this conflict," Bush said, adding that he is deeply concerned that Russia might bomb the civilian airport in the capital of Tbilisi.

He said Russia's escalation of the conflict had raised serious questions about its intentions in Georgia and the region and had substantially damaged Russia's standing in the world.

"These actions jeopardize Russia's relations with the United States and Europe," Bush said. "It's time for Russia to be true to its word to act to end this crisis."

Moscow snubbed Western pleas for a cease-fire, and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin criticized Washington for casting Georgians as the
victims rather than aggressors in the conflict.

"The Cold War has long ended but the mentality of the Cold War has stayed firmly in the minds of several U.S. diplomats. It is a real shame," Putin said.

Related articles:
  • Georgia President says Russia cut country in half
  • Putin defends Russia's Ossetia incursion, slams Georgia over 'genocide'
  • Russia declares itself ready to make peace with Georgia
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      1.   Russian Aggression 04:26  |  Pastor Joseph 12/08/08
      2.   A LEGACY FROM A GENIUS 04:27  |  indrajaya 12/08/08
      3.   To my Russian friends 04:28  |  General Patton 12/08/08
      4.   Bush cares nothing about justice 05:17  |  Eric Wilson 12/08/08
      5.   #4 Wilson....Wilson cares... 05:29  |  Pastor Joseph 12/08/08
      6.   US/RUSSIA HAD NO GOOD RELATIONS ANYWAY;BUSH HAS NO GOOD RELATIONS 05:32  |  glenna 12/08/08
      7.   Russia Does Not Compromise Its Security Interests 05:32  |  Joseph.E 12/08/08
      8.   #7 Joseph E., what do you mean... 05:52  |  General Patton 12/08/08
      9.   #3 General George S Patton, the anti-Semite? 06:04  |  Maureen Ann 12/08/08
      10.   RUN SAAKASHVILI RUN 06:14  |  Joe Momma 12/08/08
      11.   Russian territorial ambitions in the caucasian region 06:23  |  Voice of Reason 12/08/08
      12.   Russia Has Every Rigth to Repell Geogia`s Attack 06:24  |  Lev Bronstein 12/08/08
      13.   #12 Lev........don`t tread on the USA and... 06:40  |  General Patton 12/08/08
      14.   Nobody wants to live like corrupted nondemocratic Russia. 06:45  |  Vital 12/08/08
      15.   Saakashvili : the war criminal 06:56  |  PARIS 12/08/08
      16.   The first casualty of war 06:58  |  Gordon 12/08/08
      17.   I Smell Hypocracy ? 07:30  |  Reader 12/08/08
      18.   WC, MM Bush, shut up 08:00  |  Dav 12/08/08
      19.   Who started this war? and How to stop it 08:03  |  isratinian 12/08/08
      20.   # 8 General Patton 08:17  |  Joseph.E 12/08/08
      21.   Maureen Ann: "Jewish Defender" 09:19  |  Ruth 12/08/08
      22.   Maureen Ann: "Jewish Defender" 09:20  |  Ruth Anderson 12/08/08
      23.   General Patton 09:46  |  Rusty Shackleford 12/08/08
      24.   What a joke.. Stop buying oil? 10:23  |  Shtarka 12/08/08
      25.   Shame to all who supors brutal Russia. 11:33  |  Vital 12/08/08
      26.   Russia doing what the U.S. and Israel have done! 11:56  |  Samy 12/08/08
      27.   RUSSIA HITS BACK! 12:02  |  Samy 12/08/08
      28.   #25 What about giving support to freedom lover Palestinians?!!! 12:11  |  Persian Hero 12/08/08
      29.   Western appeasement allowed Russian agression 12:49  |  Jonathan S 12/08/08
      30.   Bravo Russia 12:51  |  MiddleStanian 12/08/08
      31.   # 26 samy 12:55  |  Axel 12/08/08
      32.   Georgians must oust Saakashvili 13:04  |  Joseph.E 12/08/08
      33.   Freedom Loving Arabs and others 13:14  |  John Isenhower 12/08/08
      34.   Palestinian toe and Georgian children 13:14  |  Jonathan S 12/08/08
      35.   #3, 8 & 13 General Button 13:22  |  max 12/08/08
      36.   Russia stopped because it wanted to? 14:08  |  Aaron 12/08/08
      37.   to pastor joseph 14:50  |  matt 12/08/08
      38.   to general patton 14:53  |  matt 12/08/08
      39.   Re: #25: Shame to all who supors brutal Russia. 15:51  |  Objective Observer 12/08/08
      40.   Re- John Isenhower 16:09  |  Mrs. Wondering from 12/08/08
      41.   lay off russia. there`s guilt enough to go round. 17:08  |  frenz 12/08/08
      42.   Mrs Wondering to J. Isenhower 17:23  |  An Arab American 12/08/08
      43.   1/4 of Israelis are Russian 19:37  |  Israeli 12/08/08
      44.   Lev Bronstein - completely agree 19:39  |  US 12/08/08
      45.   persian zero,you nor the palestinians will ever know what freedom 20:27  |  terrornator 12/08/08
      46.   Who is to blame 21:23  |  KUTW 12/08/08
      47.   The 27 block has no moral authority 21:26  |  KUTW 12/08/08
      48.   The peacekeepers 21:31  |  KUTW 12/08/08
      49.   Russia continues the bombardments 21:36  |  KUTW 12/08/08
      50.   Russia has a right to prevent bush "freedom" 22:01  |  joefiasco 12/08/08
      51.   NATO urges Russia to respect Georgia sovereignty 22:31  |  KUTW 12/08/08
      52.   Jonathan S 22:35  |  Bruised Pinky 12/08/08
      53.   Russian aggression, Chechnia #2 23:50  |  gus 12/08/08
      54.   Indrajaya and Persian hero 23:54  |  PATISH 12/08/08
      55.   Reason? 23:57  |  Mark 12/08/08
      56.   to Maureen Ann#9 00:01  |  Ilya 13/08/08
      57.   Jonathan S - Also 00:40  |  Bruised Pinky 13/08/08
      58.   Renounce force and don`t let Elbit Systems meddle 00:56  |  Harold 13/08/08
      59.   Russia has no right to intervene in an internal Georgian affair 00:59  |  Alex 13/08/08
      60.   Saakasvihlli must go