MOSCOW, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has urged France, which is mediating in its conflict with Georgia, to encourage Tbilisi to sign a binding agreement not to attack its separatist regions, the Kremlin said on Thursday. Medvedev late on Wednesday spoke by telephone with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who helped outline the basic principles of the ceasefire over Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia, the Kremlin said in a press-release. "D.Medvedev noted that the most important thing now for ensuring a sustainable process of normalising situation in the region is the (non-attack) agreement ... rather than U.N resolutions or declarations," the press-release said. "This agreement should be based on the approved principles, signed by South Ossetian and Georgian sides and by Russia, the European Union and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe as guarantors," he added. (Writing by Oleg Shchedrov; Editing by Matthew Jones)
Abkhazian rebel forces drive towards Sukhumi returning from the Kodori Gorge at the border between their breakaway region and Georgia proper August 13, 2008. Jubilant rebel troops proclaimed the "liberation" of ...
