Russian forces appear to have begun the final stage of a pullback from positions inside Georgia around the separatist South Ossetia region.
The Interfax news agency quoted the head of Russian peacekeeping troops in South Ossetia as saying that the withdrawal should be finished by Wednesday evening. Under a French-brokered agreement, Russia must withdraw its troops from buffer zones surrounding South Ossetia and another breakaway region, Abkhazia, by Friday. A European Union mission of 300 monitors is to replace the Russian presence in the buffer zones. Russia has however said it plans to keep 7,600 troops in each of the breakaway regions. Russia and Georgia fought a brief war over South Ossetia and Abkhazia in August.
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