At a meeting in the Kremlin with President of France Nicolas Sarkozy, Dmitry Medvedev informed his French colleague about the end of the operations to oblige the Georgian authorities to restore peace. Dmitry Medvedev stressed that the operations in South Ossetia have ended because they have achieved their main goal: to protect Russian peacekeepers and the civilian population.

Following negotiations which lasted more than four hours, the presidents of Russia and France elaborated six principles for the settlement of the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict:

– do not resort to the use of force;

– the absolute cessation of all hostilities;

– free access to humanitarian assistance;

– the Armed Forces of Georgia must withdraw to their permanent positions;

– the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation must withdraw to the line where they were stationed prior to the beginning of hostilities; prior to the establishment of international mechanisms the Russian peacekeeping forces will take additional security measures; and,

– an international debate on the future status of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and ways to ensure their lasting security will take place.

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