By IRNA,
Moscow : The US and France have criticized Russia for creating buffer zones and checkpoints in Georgia violating the terms of ceasefire agreement with Georgia.
Russia announced the full withdrawal of combat forces from Georgia proper on Friday but insisted hundreds of other troops could stay under the ceasefire.
France brokered the ceasefire to end fighting over Georgia’s pro- Russian breakaway province of South Ossetia.
IRNA reporter in Moscow said that the terms of the ceasefire are vague about the extent of any buffer zones.
A White House spokesman, Gordon Johndroe, said the checkpoints and buffer zones set up by Russia were not part of the ceasefire agreement.
A spokesman for the French foreign ministry, Eric Chevalier, said a United Nations Security Council resolution was needed to clarify exactly what the ceasefire agreement covers.
The Russian military say they intend to maintain a peacekeeping presence in Georgia, controlling buffer zones around both South Ossetia and the other breakaway province, Abkhazia.
The zones include sections of the main highway from the capital Tbilisi to the Black Sea as well as Georgia’s main airbase at Senaki.