DW-World.de
Deutsche Welle

Russian forces have pulled out of areas of Georgia bordering on the break-away regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The European Union's foreign policy co-ordinator, Javier Solana, said in a statement that this had been confirmed by EU monitors operating in Georgia. The withdrawal brings Russia into compliance with a French-brokered ceasefire that ended a five-day-long military conflict between Georgian and Russian forces in South Ossetia back in August. Under the deal, Moscow was required to pull its forces out of the buffer zones by this Friday.