French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, sat over dinner negotiations, with the Frenchman not leaving until "sweet dessert" had been served, according to the Kremlin. The four hours Sarkozy sat with Medvedev didn't occur because he has a sweet tooth, but because negotiations were difficult. So difficult, in fact, that the holder of the current EU presidency got mad and was ready to leave the meeting prematurely, observers have revealed.

In the end, Medvedev agreed to withdraw Russia's troops from Georgia back to pre-conflict positions within 10 days. But that does not include soldiers in the provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which Moscow sees as independent states. Yet Medvedev, after Sarkozy had guaranteed him Georgia will abstain from any further military aggression, agreed to withdraw the soldiers who are stationed in security zones close to but outside the breakaway provinces. They are to be replaced by some 200 EU police and security forces on Oct. 1. If all that happens smoothly, the EU would resume talks with Moscow over a new partnership agreement next month, Sarkozy said. An international conference scheduled for Oct. 15 in Geneva, Switzerland, will deal with the future of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Here, the West and Russia are still at odds: While Medvedev said he won't take back his decision to recognize the breakaway provinces as independent states, an angry Sarkozy told the press it wasn't Russia's job to decide Georgia's borders.

All over Europe, leaders are nevertheless on an appeasement course when it comes to Russia. In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed hope that Medvedev will keep his promises, while underlining that Russia is an important strategic partner for Europe.

In a move that seemed to be in line with Europe's overall policy of detente, the EU this week also abstained from handing Ukraine a guarantee of membership in the 27-nation bloc anytime soon. Strong pro-Western guarantees for Ukraine undoubtedly would have irritated the Kremlin.

On the other side of the Atlantic, however, the tone remains sharp.

U.S. President Bush has annulled a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement, a mostly symbolic move, but one that demonstrates Washington's disappointment with the Kremlin.

Washington also has brushed aside Russia's calls for a weapons embargo to be imposed on Georgia, announcing instead that it would look for ways to rebuild the Georgian military, which was pretty much shattered in the 10-day conflict with Russia last month.

A U.S. diplomatic team will travel to Tbilisi, Georgia's capital, this week to see how and where help can be provided, Pentagon officials said.

"Georgia, like any sovereign country, should have the ability to defend itself and to deter renewed aggression," Undersecretary of Defense Eric Edelman told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.

The United States already has promised to deliver some $1 billion in economic aid to Georgia, which has infuriated Moscow.

Medvedev has complained that a U.S.-led NATO is pushing eastward, and the latest Georgian aggression against the breakaway provinces, which Russia has called attempted genocide, happened with Washington's "approval."

Georgia accuses Russia of starting the military aggression and says Russia is to be blamed for substantial civilian casualties.

European leaders are eager to shed some light on what actually happened in early August in the Caucasus -- not to play the blame game but to know how they need to deal with Russia and especially Georgia in the future.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is far from popular in some European capitals, and even inside Georgia the opposition has started to blame the president for the loss of the two provinces.

The German Foreign Ministry, according to a report by the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, is lobbying for a U.N. fact-finding commission to be sent to Georgia. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon already has signaled his support for the idea, the daily said.

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