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| Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at Security Council meeting in Sochi, 16 Aug 2008 |
Russian President Dmitri Medvedev has signed a cease-fire agreement
aimed at bringing an end to hostilities with neighboring Georgia.
Mr. Medvedev signed the document on Saturday, one day
after Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili put his signature on it.
The cease-fire plan, negotiated by France, calls for Russian forces to
withdraw to the positions they held before fighting broke out in
Georgia's Russian-backed separatist region of South Ossetia.
Separatist leaders from South Ossetia and the other Georgian breakaway region, Abkhazia, also signed it.
In Washington Friday, U.S. President George Bush said Russia must end
the
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| Condoleezza Rice, left, and Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili at news conference in Tbilisi, Georgia, 15 Aug 2008 |
crisis in Georgia to repair damage to its relations with the United
States, Europe and other nations. In his weekly radio address, Mr. Bush
called Russia's invasion of Georgia "completely unacceptable."
Mr. Bush
is meeting at his Texas ranch on Saturday
with his national security team, including Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice, who just returned from a fact-finding trip to France
and Georgia.