French President Nicolas Sarkozy, left, and Russia's President Medvedev, right, hold news conference in the Meindorf castle, the Moscow region, September 8, 2008.
Photo: Dmitry Azarov
| Other Photos |
 |
|
 |
Sarkozy Almost Walked Out of Georgian Talks in Moscow
In one of the stormy moments of Moscow talks, French President Nicolas Sarkozy threatened to walk out and leave Russia’s capital without attaining any agreement.
“There were very tense moments,” Reuters reported as saying one of the senior officials in Sarkozy’s office. Once, when President Medvedev wasn’t in the room, the parties clashed about the pre-conflict positions to the extent that Sarkozy got up and said: “We’re going. This is not negotiable.” Medvedev was called back and eased the tension without interrupting the session and calling Vladimir Putin, the source specified.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy visited Moscow September 8 to agree on the follow-up to the six-point peace deal of Medvedev and Sarkozy. Russia, for instance, obtained the E.U. guarantee for the non-use of force by Georgia.
Medvedev said Russia’s peacekeepers of five checkpoints from Poti to Senaki will be pulled out within seven days, and Russia will withdraw all peacekeepers to the pre-conflict positions from the buffer zone adjacent to South Ossetia and Abkhazia when the international mechanisms, including at least 200 observers of the E.U., are established there but no later than October 1, 2008.
The parties also agreed to set to the international discussion on South Ossetia and Abkhazia in Geneva October 15, 2008.
www.kommersant.com
|
|
|
