The statement came amid uncertainty about whether Russia was fulfilling its promise of a military withdrawal from Georgia, with earlier media reports from the ground indicating Russian forces were not showing any sign of moving out.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said his country's troops would begin pulling back from their positions in the former Soviet republic on Monday, but he gave no firm deadline for completion of the withdrawal.

Russian tanks moved even deeper into Georgia on Sunday, digging in at a checkpoint barely 30 kilometres west of the capital, Tbilisi, the CBC's Mike Hornbrook reported from the city.

By midday Monday, residents of the central Georgian city of Gori were still waiting for Russian forces to begin their promised pullout.

Meanwhile, Russian troops set up new checkpoints along the main road from Gori to the capital, Reuters reported. ....