Medvedev, Sarkozy discuss Georgian crisis by phone

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy that Georgian troops must return to their barracks in line with a French-brokered ceasefire, the Kremlin said on Thursday.

A Kremlin statement said Medvedev and Sarkozy spent more than an hour discussing the Georgian crisis by telephone. The conversation French officials said took place on Wednesday. “The Russian side has stressed the need for Tbilisi to carry out point four of the Medvedev-Sarkozy plan, under which all Georgian troops should be returned to their original bases,” the Kremlin said in its account of the conversation.

“(Medvedev and Sarkozy) also discussed additional agreements, which may in future ensure safety in the areas near the borders of South Ossetia and Abkhazia,” the Kremlin statement said. Sarkozy’s office said the French leader spoke to Medvedev and Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili on Wednesday, telling both of “the urgent need to reduce tension” in the Caucasus.

He called on both men to fully implement the peace plan he brokered and “firmly condemned” Russia’s recognition of the breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states, the Elysee said late on Wednesday.

Moscow sent its troops into the two separatist regions of Georgia earlier this month to repel Tbilisi’s attempts to retake South Ossetia by force. After pulling back much of its military force from the conflict zone in line with the ceasefire deal, Russia is keeping troops and amour in buffer zones on the territory of Georgia proper around the two regions.

France holds the rotating presidency of the European Union. Leaders of the bloc will meet on Monday to discuss a response to Russian actions in Georgia, an ex-Soviet state which is seeking European Union and NATO membership.