After a two-year delay, Moscow on October 18 followed through on its promise to withdraw from the Georgian village of Perevi, bordering on the breakaway region of South Ossetia. The Russians retreated to another village within South Ossetia, allowing Georgian police to take over Perevi.
But, as always, no two sides interpret the move alike. Georgia and the European Union hope the withdraw, in keeping with the Tbilisi-Moscow 2008 ceasefire agreement, marks the beginning of a general pullout from South Ossetia and the fellow breakaway region of Abkhazia. Moscow, meanwhile, indicated that the Perevi withdrawal should complete its obligations.
The Russians agreed to withdraw from Perevi, an ethnic Georgian village, at the latest round of internationally mediated Georgian-Russian talks in Geneva. Russian troops already left the village once after the 2008 war, but rolled back in on the same day.
Giorgi Lomsadze is a journalist based in Tbilisi, and author of Tamada Tales.
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