PARIS (Thomson Financial) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy, in a newspaper article to appear Monday, called for the withdrawal 'without delay' of Russian military forces from Georgia, adding: 'This point is not negotiable.'
Writing in Le Figaro, Sarkozy -- who heads the French presidency of the European Union -- said he would convene a special EU summit if Russia fails to pull back all its forces that entered Georgia from August 7.
'This withdrawal must be carried out without delay,' said Sarkozy, who brokered a ceasefire deal between Moscow and Tbilisi in the midst of conflict last week. 'This point is not negotiable in my eyes.'
The Kremlin on Sunday vowed to start pulling combat troops from Georgia on Monday, but a plan to retain Russian 'peacekeepers' in the embattled republic sparked new tension.
Western allies of President Mikheil Saakashvili further upped the pressure on Moscow to quit Georgia as Russian troops dug in less than half an hour's drive from the capital Tbilisi.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel assured Saakashvili in Tbilisi that NATO remained ready to give membership to the ex-Soviet republic, despite the war with Russia.
Separately, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a U.S. television appearance that Russia's reputation was in 'tatters.'
A ceasefire continued to hold and President Dmitry Medvedev assured his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy that Russian regular forces 'from tomorrow... will begin withdrawing,' the Kremlin said.
However, new tensions gathered over Russia's longer term military plans in the fervently pro-Western ex-Soviet republic of less than 5 million people.
Russia plans to deploy a peacekeeping force of unspecified size that Georgian officials worry could turn into an open-ended occupation.
Saakashvili said Russian troops cannot stay in the country, even if termed peacekeepers.
Merkel, meanwhile, voiced unusually strong support for Georgia's bid to join the NATO military alliance, saying: 'Georgia will become a member of NATO if it wants to -- and it does want to.'
Georgia's bid to enter NATO has infuriated Russia, which regards the ex-Soviet republic as its backyard.
Sarkozy phoned Moscow on Sunday and warned of the 'serious consequences that a failure to quickly and fully implement the deal would have on relations between Russia and the European Union,' the French president's office said in a statement.
The ceasefire deal is meant to conclude a five-day war in which Russian forces drove off a Georgian army assault against Moscow-backed separatists in the region of South Ossetia.
In Gori, a Russian-occupied town beyond the conflict zone of separatist South Ossetia, the commanding general said a switch from regular troops had already begun.
'The Russian troops are starting to pull out and Russian peacekeepers are coming in,' General Vyacheslav Borisov told AFP.
Russian forces continued to man positions along the main road from Tbilisi to Gori, including at a checkpoint in Igoeti, only 30 kilometres (18 miles) from the capital. tf.TFN-Europe_newsdesk@thomson.com afp/hjp COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.