PROTOCOL ON AGREEMENT

1. Not to use the force.

2. To cease hostilities definitely.

3. free access to humanitarian aid.

4. Georgian forces must withdraw to their usual places dislocation of deployment.

5. Russian forces must withdraw to positions they held prior to the outbreak of hostilities. Pending an international peace monitoring mechanism, Russian peacekeepers will take additional security measures.

6. Launch of international discussions on security and stability arrangements in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

On behalf of the European Union

French Presidency

Nicolas Sarkozy

Mikheil Saakashvili

(August 12, 2008)

Communiqué

of the Presidency of the Republic

Aspiring for transparency, the Presidency of the Republic would like to make public a letter that clarifies concrete ways of implementing point 5 of the six-point ceasefire agreement as it follows from the meeting of President of the Republic Nicolas Sarkozy and President Dmitri Medvedev on August 12. The letter was sent to President Saakashvili on August 14.

== beginning of citation ==

Mr. President,

With respect to point 5 of the six-point agreement to which you gave your agreement on 12 August—after that of President Medvedev—at our meeting in Tbilisi, which stipulates that “the Russian forces must withdraw to positions they held prior to the outbreak of hostilities” and that “pending an international mechanism, the Russian peacekeeping forces shall implement additional security measures,” I wish to inform you of the following points:

- As I stated at our joint press conference in Tbilisi, these “additional security measures” could only be implemented in the immediate vicinity of South Ossetia, to the exclusion of any other portion of the Georgian territory;

- Specifically, these “measures” may only be implemented within a zone a few kilometres deep inside the administrative boundary between South Ossetia and the rest of Georgia, such that no major urban centre is included in this zone — I am thinking particularly of the city of Gori; special arrangements must be defined to guarantee freedom of movement and circulation along Georgian road and railways;

- These “additional security measures” shall consist of patrols carried out exclusively by Russian peacekeeping forces at the levels authorized by the existing arrangements, the other Russian forces withdrawing to their positions prior to 7 August in compliance with the protocol agreement;

- These “measures” shall be provisional, pending the establishment as soon as possible of the “international mechanism” whose nature and mandate are already under discussion in various international bodies, in particular the OSCE, the European Union and the United Nations.

Based on this information, I request that you confirm the agreement that you gave me and that you announced publicly in Tbilisi by signing at the bottom of the six-point protocol agreement that I myself signed as a witness and guarantor on behalf of the European Union. Yesterday, President Medvedev assured me that your signature would lead to the withdrawal of Russian forces in compliance with the concluded agreement.

Please accept, Mr. President, the assurance of my very high consideration.

Signed: Nicolas Sarkozy

== end of citation ==

The Presidency of the Republic wishes to add the following 3 points:

- In the letter accompanying the document relating to the ceasefire, the territory referred to is to be understood as the immediate vicinity to the conflict zone, such as it is specified in prior arrangements, to the exclusion of all other parts of the Georgian territory. The measures defined in this document can only be implemented within a zone a few kilometres deep, around Tskhinvali in the conflict zone.

- In no way can the measures mentioned in the letter be limited or jeopardize freedom of movement and circulation along the Georgian road and railways.

- Other aspects of the conflict resolution process shall be discussed subsequently.

(14 August 2008)

(Archive of the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Translation from French)