??Russian troops will withdraw from Georgia by Friday under the terms of a peace plan. ??Some of peacekeepers will be pulled back to the temporary security zone by Aug. 22. ??Russia declared a halt to its military offensive in Georgia last Tuesday.

MOSCOW, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Tuesday Moscow will withdraw its troops from Georgia by Friday under the terms of a French-brokered peace plan, the Kremlin said in a statement.

Some of the peacekeepers will be pulled back to the temporary security zone by Aug. 22, Medvedev told his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy by phone.

Russias President Dmitry Medvedev (R) and Frances President Nicolas Sarkozy meet in Moscows Kremlin, August 12, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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The rest of the (Russian) military contingent, which was sent to reinforce peacekeepers, will be withdrawn to South Ossetia and Russia, the RIA Novosti news agency quoted Medvedev as saying.

Russia declared a halt to its military offensive in Georgia last Tuesday after days of conflict in Georgias breakaway region of South Ossetia.

Medvedev on Saturday signed the peace plan, under which Georgian troops should return to their bases and Russian forces should pull back to its previous positions.

Russian troops and armored vehicles have begun to pull out from the Georgia on Monday.

UNSC ends talks on Georgia without agreement

  UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council concluded on late Tuesday afternoon its emergency consultations on Georgia without reaching any agreement.

During the open meeting, UN political chief Lynn Pascoe and UN Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Edmond Mulet briefed the council on the latest developments in Georgia. 

Russia says its troops pulling out of Georgia under peace plan

Russian troops and armored vehicles pull out from the city of Gori, Georgia, Aug. 18, 2008. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)
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  MOSCOW, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Russian troops have begun pulling out of Georgia in line with the French-brokered six-point peace plan, a senior Russian military official said Tuesday.

  We shall comply with all of the six items of the plan at a pace the situation allows for, Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy chief of the Russian General Staff, was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

Russia says future of Russia-NATO Council depends on NATO      

  MOSCOW, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Moscow will draw conclusions from NATOs pro-Georgian stance, and the future of the Russia-NATO Council depends on our partners, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday.

  The Russia-NATO Council was not established to teach Russia on how to behave towards Georgia, but to ensure security in Europe and the Euro-Atlantic region, Lavrov said. 

Russia warns against NATO membership for Georgia

  BRUSSELS, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Russias ambassador to NATO warned the alliance on Tuesday against allowing Georgia into NATO.

  The Georgia-Russia conflict over South Ossetia would have brought NATO into war with Russia if the alliance granted Georgia its membership action plan at the NATO summit in April, said ambassador Dmitry Rogozin.