By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
As hundreds of European Union monitors prepared to deploy in Georgia on Wednesday, Russia said it would not allow them to enter a buffer zone surrounding separatist South Ossetia.
Tuesday's statement by Russian peacekeeping forces appeared to be another example of Moscow stalling on compliance with a cease-fire agreement it had reached after the August war with Georgia over breakaway South Ossetia.
Russia and Georgia agreed to the EU observer mission as part of an updated cease-fire plan following the war, which ended with Russian and separatist forces in control of South Ossetia and another Moscow-backed breakaway region, Abkhazia. Russian troops remained deep in Georgia for weeks.
As part of the deal between Russia and Georgia, Moscow agreed to withdraw its forces completely from territories outside of South Ossetia and Abkhazia within 10 days of the EU monitors' deployment on Wednesday - including a roughly 7-kilometer buffer zone extending southward from South Ossetia's edge.
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