(MOSCOW) —Russian President Dmitri Medvedev ordered a halt to military action in Georgia Tuesday, saying it had punished Georgia and restored security for civilians and Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia.
In a nationally televised speech he ordered the military to defend itself and quash any aggressive action and armed resistance from Georgian forces.
Russia’s foreign minister said that Georgia’s president must leave office and Georgian troops should stay out of the breakaway South Ossetia region for good.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow won’t talk to President Mikhail Saakashvili and Saakashvili “better go.”
The Russian statements came as French President Nicolas Sarkozy was heading to Moscow to negotiate an EU-brokered truce for the fierce conflict over the breakaway region.