D.Medvedev.Пресс-конференция по окончании встречи с Президентом Франции Николя Саркози.Part 2

Part 2
Press Conference following Talks with President of France Nicolas Sarkozy
September 8, 2008
Maiendorf Castle, Moscow Region

Point four. As guarantor of the principle of non-aggression, the European Union will actively prepare the deployment of an observer mission in addition to the existing observer mechanisms.Section three International discussions. The international discussions stipulated in point six of the Medvedev-Sarkozy plan of August 12, 2008, will begin on October 15, 2008 in Geneva. Preliminary discussions will begin this September.Point two. These discussions will examine the following issues in particular: ways to ensure security and stability in the region; settling the issue of refugees and displaced persons on the basis of internationally recognised principles and post-conflict resolution practice; any other issue put forward with the mutual approval of the parties.This is the document we have approved. I want to stress that it will take effect immediately, given that Russia has already received guarantees of Georgian non-aggression from the European Union and from France, as the country currently holding the EU presidency.
I give the floor to my colleague Nicholas.
PRESIDENT OF FRANCE NICOLAS SARKOZY (Retranslated from Russian): Thank you Mr President. I am going to speak for Mr Barroso and for myself. Of course what I have to say reflects the views of Bernard Kouchner and Mr Solana, because the four of us worked in concert with our Russian partners. I wont bother to reread the text, since Dmitry Medvedev has already read it. But I can summarise it as follows.We do not believe that it is possible to resolve all the issues associated with the Caucasus for many years in four hours. As far as the European Union is concerned, we seek to serve the interests of peace. And since 2 August, Mr Barroso and myself, French diplomacy and Bernard Kouchner we have all been working on the behalf of ordinary people.What we have decided with President Medvedev means in concrete terms that within a week the roadblocks between Poti and Senaki will be removed. And I want to thank the Russian side for agreeing to a one-week deadline for this. A month later there will be a full withdrawal of Russian armed forces from Georgian territory, those that are not in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The presence of international observers will confirm this. This concerns the UN and the OSCE as part of their current mandate, that is, these observers will be deployed outside the administrative zones of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The EU has agreed to deploy 200 EU observers by 1 October. Javier Solana and I will look into the possibility of deploying some more after 1 October.
President Medvedev has announced and I want to confirm here, along with President Barroso and Mr Solana, the commitment of the EU to the principle of the non-use of force. I have even passed on to President Medvedev a letter from President Saakashvili affirming his intentions to honour the commitment not to use force in Abkhazia and Ossetia that was part of the agreement of 12 August.
Then international talks in Geneva will begin on 15 October, which means that we will have to get to work immediately. These will involve President Barroso, Bernard Kouchner and others. What will the subject of these talks be and how will they proceed? You have just heard President Medvedev say that the refugee issue will be at the centre of these discussions.I believe I can say that the talks we have had over the last few hours have been fruitful. Now we are going to Georgia in order to make clear what has been agreed to here, so that all sides can act in the name of peace. Within a week the roadblocks will be removed, within a month Russias Armed Forces will have left Georgian territory.Of course I have to talk about our discussions with President Medvedev. As he rightly said, we are not in complete agreement. The European Union has condemned the unilateral recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Russias recognition of their independence. President Medvedev restated his position. But we didnt discuss the future, we were talking about implementing the plan agreed to on 12 August. I must say frankly that what we signed today and what we said today clearly represent the spirit which prevailed at the time of the ceasefire.And I would like to add a word or two so that everything is crystal clear. It is obvious that these are very important talks, very serious negotiations for the European delegation - Mr Barroso, Mr Solana and Mr Kouchner. If everything goes well, as we indicated in about a month a conflict that could have resulted in a far more serious loss of human life will have ended. I am saying that the weapons will remain silent. And we have reflected long and hard on this. We strongly support the ceasefire, which will help to create confidence among the different parties, which will in turn help find a settlement.

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