Medvedev defends troop presence in rebel Georgian regions

(MOSCOW) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev defended his country's troop presence in two Georgian rebel regions as fully compatible with an EU-brokered peace deal, in comments published on Thursday.

"No text, including our agreement with (French President Nicolas) Sarkozy, regulates our military contingents," Medvedev told French daily Le Figaro, according to a transcript of the interview issued by the Kremlin press service.

"The size and location of military bases are defined by bilateral cooperation pacts signed by Russia with Abkhazia and South Ossetia," he said, referring to the rebel regions.

"We will define ourselves what contingent we need, where it will be deployed and what military bases will be present."

Medvedev was speaking ahead of an EU-Russia summit in France on Friday and amid concern among EU leaders over the presence of thousands of Russian troops in the two regions.

Georgian officials have accused the Kremlin of failing to comply with the ceasefire brokered by Sarkozy, representing the European Union, and of redrawing their country's map.

Russia and Georgia fought a brief war in August after Georgia tried to retake South Ossetia by force following months of skirmishes and diplomatic threats in the volatile mountain region.

As part of the Medvedev-Sarkozy peace plan, the EU has deployed a monitoring team to patrol areas near the two rebel regions but has been refused permission to patrol the regions themselves by the separatist administrations.

Russia and Nicaragua are the only countries in the world to have recognised the independence of the two Moscow-backed regions from Georgia.