Moscow: French President Nicolas Sarkozy visits Moscow and Tbilisi today in a bid to ramp up the international pressure on Russia to withdraw more troops from Georgia and shore up a fragile peace deal.

Sarkozy was to meet Medvedev at his residence near Moscow at 1000 GMT, accompanied by European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

The three were later to travel to Tbilisi for afternoon talks with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili with whom Russia has refused direct talks since the conflict.

France holds the rotating presidency of the European Union and it was Sarkozy who brokered the August 12 accord that officially brought an end to Russia and Georgia's five-day war over South Ossetia.

Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev has come under fire for not honouring the terms of the truce, in particular from the United States, which is not as reliant as some European nations on Russian oil and gas supplies.

Moscow argues that its remaining presence in Georgia- thought to be a few thousand troops, is in line with the peace agreement which foresaw additional security measures by Russia in the conflict zone.

Georgia, whose army was routed by the Russians in a five-day conflict after launching an ill-fated campaign to regain control of breakaway South Ossetia, views the leftover troops as an occupying force.

"I am hopeful that the French president s visit to Moscow... Will clarify the six-point (peace) plan," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said yesterday.
Source : PTI