Russia does another Pinocchio on Georgia! Georgia says Russia troops blocking refugee return!
GORI, Georgia (Reuters) – Russian troops deep inside Georgian territory are stopping thousands of refugees from returning to their homes, a Georgian official said on Saturday.
Russian soldiers were still manning checkpoints in Georgia and patrolling a Black Sea port even after Moscow pulled back much of the force it deployed three weeks ago to crush Georgia’s attempt to take back separatist province South Ossetia.
European Union leaders are to meet in Brussels on Monday to debate the bloc’s response to Russia’s military intervention and its decision to recognize South Ossetia and Georgia’s other breakaway region, Abkhazia, as independent states.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev spoke with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown by telephone on Saturday to defend Moscow’s recognition of the regions and insist it was complying with a ceasefire agreement, the Kremlin said.
Russia has ignored calls by the United States and European powers to withdraw from Georgia, including troops deployed in a “buffer zone” bordering South Ossetia and Abkhazia that Moscow says are needed to prevent further attacks by Georgia.
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