Russian troops to pull out within a month

On 8 September 2008 Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed to pull Russian troops from Georgia within a month following negotiations with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Moscow. Russia has not indicated that it will pull out of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, where it plans to set up diplomatic facilities following its recognition of the separatist regions. In fact, on 9 September the Russian defense minister indicated that there are plans to station 3,800 Russian soldiers in each of the regions. An international peacekeeping force will replace the Russian soldiers in the security zone around the separatist regions.