BUDAPEST, HUNGARY // Russia should withdraw its troops from the parts of the northern separatist regions under Georgia's control before the war, Georgia's defense minister said today. David Kezerashvili said that while the situation was now peaceful the "occupiers are on our territories and they have to leave firstly the so-called buffer zones ... and then the whole territory of Georgia". Russia is pulling its troops back to positions held before it invaded Georgia in early August, but it said it would keep 3,800 troops in each of Georgia's separatist South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions - a presence Nato as well as the United States and European Union say violates its obligation under the cease-fire. But Russian troops "are staying in the strategically important places," including Abkhazia's Kodori Gorge and the town of Akhalgori in South Ossetia, Mr Kezerashvili told reporters on the sidelines of a Nato meeting in Hungary.
The German defense minister Franz Josef Jung said Nato could resume regular talks with Russia that were suspended after its invasion of Georgia in early August, if Moscow complies with the peace plan. "If Russia fulfills the six-point-plan, and that seems to be the case, we would resume dialogue with Russia," he told reporters. "That would also mean that the NRC reconvenes". However the United States and other allies say it's premature to rush into reconvening the Nato-Russia Council. "We are not at that stage yet", Nato's secretary general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told reporters.
In another issue straining relations with Russia, Mr de Hoop Scheffer said he was mystified by Russian criticism of a deal signed by Nato and the United Nations recently to improve cooperation. "It can definitely not come as a surprise to them, because they were kept informed", he said. "I do not understand why this sudden criticism". Moscow yesterday accused Nato and the United Nations of secretly signing the agreement that tightens their cooperation without informing Russia. Regarding Georgia's desire to join Nato, Mr Kezerashvili said he was hopeful Georgia would be invited to the alliance's pre-accession program in December at a Nato meeting in Brussels. Some Nato members like the United States and Britain favor granting Georgia and Ukraine a Membership Action Plan - a key step toward membership - but others including France and Germany balked at such a step in April, wary of Russian ire because of Europe's dependence on Russian energy supplies. "We are confident that in December we'll get the Map ... and I hope that it will be together with Ukraine," Mr Kezerashvili said. "It's crucial for us".
*AP