"In line with reached agreements and the Russian president's instruction, the Defense Ministry has started closing observation posts in zones adjacent to South Ossetia and Abkhazia," the source said.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, speaking Monday after talks near Moscow with his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, said that Russia had pledged to withdraw from observation posts located between the Georgian towns of Poti and Senaki within a week.
Under the agreement, brokered by Sarkozy because France is EU president, Russia has pledged to pull all troops out of the undisputed parts of Georgia within one month, leaving peacekeepers in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which Moscow has recognized as independent countries.
Medvedev said Russia's full withdrawal from Georgia will come not more than 10 days after the European Union deploys at least 200 observers in the "buffer zone" near South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which under the new agreement is set to happen by October 1.
