Under the agreement, brokered by the EU last month, Russia has pledged to pull all troops out of the undisputed parts of Georgia within one month, leaving peacekeepers in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which Moscow has recognized as independent countries. Russia has agreed to pull all its remaining peacekeepers out of the area by October 10.
"All diplomatic agreements on the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from Georgian buffer zones, bordering South Ossetia, will be implemented on time," Lt. Col. Vitaly Manushko, a spokesman for the peacekeeping forces, said.
Moscow launched a five-day operation to "force Georgia to accept peace" after Tbilisi attacked South Ossetia on August 8 in an attempt to regain control over the republic, which split from Georgia in the early 1990s. A number of Russian peacekeepers and a reported 1,600 South Ossetian residents lost their lives during the conflict.
Russia's response to the Georgian attack was called disproportionate by a number of Western powers. On August 26, Russia drew further criticism when it recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another breakaway Georgian republic, as independent states. So far, only Nicaragua has followed suit.
