Europe

However, top general in Moscow says troops will maintain 18 checkpoints in security zone around South Ossetia, which includes airport near Senaki.

Russia is claiming the right to increase the number of troops it has in and around South Ossetia, where it is also establishing additional checkpoints in response to what it says is a "continued Georgian threat."

Russia is ready to supply Syria with defensive weapons, the Russian foreign minister said on Thursday following a meeting between the two countries leaders in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi.

The United States expects to help Georgia rebuild its military following the conflict with Russia over breakaway South Ossetia, a top U.S. general has said.

Russia's ambassador to NATO Dmitry Rogozin warned Wednesday NATO against filling the gap of losses of the Georgian military incurred in its conflict with Russia.

US agreements on deploying elements of its missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic provoke an arms race and do not provide for European security, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

Even as Moscow says it has begun the promised pullback of its forces from inside Georgia, reports indicate Russian forces continue to occupy strategic positions around the country and show little sign of leaving.

Poland has agreed to a U.S. proposal to host parts of a global anti-missile system despite strong protests from neighbouring Russia. Moscow is against the move and says it will further damage its already delicate relations with Washington.

The United States and Poland have formally signed a deal to deploy American missiles in the east European nation. The United States says the missiles are needed to guard against attacks from rogue states like Iran; Russia says the deployment threatens its own security.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday he has no doubt that a planned U.S. missile defense shield for Central Europe is aimed against Russia, but Moscow is ready to continue talks with all parties concerned.

Georgia's attack on South Ossetia was likely approved by the United States, says Russian Ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin while former Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze said that "the new Cold War has been instigated by the USA."

Russian tanks and troops moved through the separatist enclave of South Ossetia and advanced on the city of Gori in central Georgia on Sunday night, for the first time directly assaulting a Georgian city with ground forces after three days of heavy fighting.

Georgia says it has withdrawn its troops from the capital of the breakaway province of South Ossetia, where Georgian forces have been fighting Russian troops for control.

German deputy Foreign Minister Gernot Erler accused Georgia of violating international law by triggering a military conflict with Russia in the separatist Caucasus region of South Ossetia, the press reported Saturday

AFP reports that according to Gernot Erler, deputy to german foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Georgia is breaking international law by launching military action to reclaim South Ossetia.