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An update on the Russian troop withdrawal, recorded earlier this morning.
WOLF
BLITZER: More news from overseas. Russian troops on
the move once again in the Republic of Georgia. This
time they're supposedly pulling back. But it's not
clear where they'll stop or how many will be left
behind.
CNN's Michael Ware is on the -- in the Georgian
capital of Tbilisi -- Michael.
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, despite a
complicated picture, the general trend here in
Georgia, to quote the Georgian national security
adviser, is that on the front lines we are seeing a
Russian pullback. However, the question remains just
how far those troops are withdrawing, how many shall
remain, in what role and what will be their numbers?
We know that some checkpoints are already being
dismantled. However, others are not. Some Russian
forces are on the move in armored columns accompanied
by vehicles, troops leaving. Yet in some positions,
they are remaining firm.
Indeed, we have the Georgian Ministry of Interior
telling us that in some positions, the Russian
soldiers are merely taking off their uniforms and
donning those of peacekeepers or attaching white arm
bands or symbols to designate themselves as
peacekeepers.
Now, under the peace accord as it stands, as written,
the wording is so broad that you can drive a Russian
armored column through it. And that is, indeed, what
we're seeing Moscow doing.
Whilst their troops shall be pulling back into the
disputed pro-Russian enclaves of South Ossetia and
Abkhazia, Russian forces are insisting on the right
to maintain a security or buffer zone to protect
those peacekeepers.
The question remains how far into undisputed Georgia
territory will those zones extend. Some are saying
seven kilometers, some are saying 10, some suspect
perhaps even more.
And there's nothing to say how many peacekeepers or
forces the Russians may keep. Regardless, their
deployment will be such that it would allow them to
maintain pressure not just on the Georgian military,
but on Georgia's core economic infrastructure --
Wolf.
BLITZER: Lots of questions remain to be answered. All
right, Michael. Michael Ware is in Tbilisi, Georgia
for us.