Moscow and Tbilisi Accept Truce, or Do They?

Medvedev and Saakashvili have agreed in general to the proposed plan. It lays out the withdrawal of Russian troops from Georgia to pre-war confines and the opening of humanitarian channels for refugees and the injured.

TBILISI (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Russia and Georgia have accepted in general the European Union's peace proposal. Tensions however remain high on both sides as criticism against Moscow's operations, judged neo-imperialist, grows.

Late yesterday evening Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili agreed to the plan laid out to him by Nicolas Sarkozy, current EU president, even with some small variations to the proposal accepted hours earlier by Russian premier Dimitri Medvedev.

Yesterday afternoon, ahead of the meeting with Sarkozy, Medvedev called a halt to all Russian military operations in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, but many observers on the ground report that clashes continue in hot points today.

Sarkozy's plan, which will be presented today to EU foreign ministers for approval, calls for the withdrawal of Russian and Georgian troops to pre-war confines and the creation of humanitarian channels to aid those injured and refugees. Sarkozy did not describe it as a "peace agreement" but "a provisional act for the cessation of hostilities", which could however lay the foundations for a UN Security Council resolution.

Fighting flared last Thursday night when Georgia sent its army to regain control of South Ossetia - a region nominally part of Georgia, but with de facto independence and where a majority of people hold Russian passports.

Russia moved in forcefully, sending troops into South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another breakaway province. Some 100,000 people are estimated to have been displaced by the conflict, which has created huge tensions in international relations.

Medvedev accuses Georgia of activating the "genocide of the population in South Ossetia" and Saakashvili of being a "lunatic". Tens of thousands of supporters of the Georgian cause organised a demonstration yesterday evening (see photo). Presidents from Ukrainia, Lithuania and Poland also took part in the protest. Saakashvili accuses Russia of wanting to conquer Georgia and has promised that the country "will never give up".

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Moscow's military operations in Georgia had jeopardised Russia's integration into international institutions. She added: "There are any number of opportunities for Russia to reverse course and to demonstrate that it is trying to behave according to 21st century principles".

According to unconfirmed sources, the United States has cancelled a series of military exercises USA-Russia that were to have been held together with Great Britain and France in the Pacific.

While some EU countries have called for European peacekeepers or monitors for Georgia's two rebel regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, there was no indication Russia, which has the upper hand militarily, would accept such a move.

The British petrol company BP has closed the Baku-Soupsa oil pipeline (Georgia) and the south Caucuses gasline, the main conduits of Caspian Sea oil and gas to Europe, for precautionary reasons.