Moscow, 7 October: Russia is ready to strictly meet its obligations to withdraw peacekeepers from the buffer zones around Abkhazia and South Ossetia by 10 October, Russian presidential aide Sergey Prikhodko has said. "No Georgian provocations or claims will stop us," Prikhodko told journalists in Moscow on Tuesday (7 October).

The only reason for peacekeepers to stay there longer would be a request from the European Union, he said. At the same time, Prikhodko said he was certain there would be no such request.

At the same time, Prikhodko stressed that after the withdrawal of its peacekeepers from Georgia Russia would present tough security demands to European observers.

"In the document signed on 8 September the European Union assumed responsibility for security in these zones, so all inquiries on the matter will now be referred to them, not Georgia," Prikhodko said.

According to him, Russia has already started posing such questions to EU representatives, with the replacement of Russian peacekeepers by European observers already under way. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has already sent a letter to the Swiss president, in which he pointed to the fact that the EU "insisted on a quick withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from these zones, where landmines are exploding now," Prikhodko said.

"Now we will be sending more specific requests to the EU to keep us informed of what is happening there, whether Georgian police provide proper security," said the Russian presidential aide. Hopefully, the EU "is aware of the responsibility it has assumed and that it will respond in case of any possible provocation," he said. "We hail this approach. It is consistent with our interests," Prikhodko said.

"At the talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy Medvedev insisted that European observers should be armed and that they should number at least 200, but the more the better," he added.

"Ideally, in the future policing powers should be devolved to EU observers," Prikhodko said. "So far they only have a mandate as observers, not as police forces. But we are ready for this decision, we are not allergic to it because we need security in the areas adjacent to Abkhazia and South Ossetia," Prikhodko said.