Press Statement following Negotiations of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the Kremlin, Moscow, August 12, 2008

President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev: Dear Gentlemen!

We recently finished our conversation with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. For obvious reasons it was devoted to one topic, the tragic events in South Ossetia. We have also been intensively exchanging information with the President over the past two days.

Before I talk about the results that we achieved today, I would like to emphasize that our meeting is taking place within a new status quo. As you know, in connection with the success of our peace enforcement operation today I ordered its end. And we are grateful to our partner, my colleague Nicolas Sarkozy, because he immediately joined the search for solutions to this problem.

Now the actual results that we achieved. I will read out certain principles, then my colleague will do so in French.

President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev and President of the Republic of France Nicolas Sarkozy support the following principles in resolving the conflicts and call on all parties concerned to adhere to these principles. They are six.

One. Do not resort to the use of force.

Two. The absolute cessation of all hostilities.

Three. Free access to humanitarian assistance.

Four. The Armed Forces of Georgia must withdraw to their permanent positions.

Five. 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.

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

I think that these are good principles to resolve this problem and to go beyond the dramatic situation that arose. And these principles may be implemented both by Georgia and South Ossetia.

The French President intends to travel to Tbilisi from Moscow to bring these principles to the Georgian side. If the Georgian side is truly ready to sign them, really does withdraw its troops to their initial positions, and fulfills these principles then the process to normalizing the situation in South Ossetia will have begun.