TBILISI, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Russia acted in "brutal breach" of international law in establishing diplomatic ties with two breakaway regions of Georgia, Foreign Minister Eka Tkeshelashvili said on Tuesday.

    Two weeks after recognizing the two regions -- South Ossetia and Abkhazia -- as independent states, Moscow signed deals on Tuesday to forge formal diplomatic relations with them.

    The move is "a brutal breach of existing international law," Tkeshelashvili said, according to the Caucasus Press news agency.

    "This latest Russian action is no different from its prior move to recognize the independence of the two breakaway regions," she said.

    Tkeshelashvili's criticism of Russia came on the same day President Mikheil Saakashvili said any solution to the conflict with Russia must respect Georgia's territorial integrity.

    "There is no way Georgia will ever give up a piece of its sovereignty, a piece of its territory," he told a news conference in the early hours of Tuesday after talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who arrived here with an updated cease-fire deal.

    Georgia rolled in troops to retake South Ossetia in early August, triggering a Russian military surge that drove the Georgian forces out.

    Since the fighting ended with a French-brokered cease-fire deal, Georgia and the West have accused Russia of failing to honor its pledge to withdraw its troops to pre-conflict positions.

    Russia says its troops remaining in Georgia are serving on a peacekeeping mission agreed in the cease-fire deal.

    After talks with Sarkozy in Moscow on Monday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed to withdraw all Russian forces from Georgia except South Ossetia and Abkhazia within a month.

    Under the new deal, 200 EU observers will be deployed in Georgia by Oct. 1 to monitor the withdrawal, and international talks on Abkhazia and South Ossetia will begin on Oct. 15 in Geneva.

    Russia said on Tuesday it has started pulling back its forces from buffer zones near the two regions.

Russia withdraws troops near Georgia's breakaway regions

    MOSCOW, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Russia has started closing military observation posts in buffer zones near Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, local media reported on Tuesday.

    "In line with reached agreements and the Russian president's instruction, the Defense Ministry has started closing observation posts in zones adjacent to South Ossetia and Abkhazia," RIA Novosti quoted sources in the Ministry as saying.Full story

FM: Russia to forge diplomatic ties with S.Ossetia, Abkhazia

    MOSCOW, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Russia will formally establish diplomatic relations with Georgia's self-proclaimed regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on Tuesday, the Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

    "On Sept. 9, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will hold negotiations with the foreign ministers of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Murat Dzhioyev and Sergei Shamba. They will exchange notes on the establishment of diplomatic relations," RIA news agency quoted the ministry as saying. Full story