This could take awhile

The quote from a senior Russian military commander doesn’t really fill me with confidence that the Russian occupation of Georgia is ending any time soon: I can say for certain when the New Year will come but I cannot give an exact date for the withdrawal of our troops from the conflict area yet," said ...

By , a former associate editor at Foreign Policy.

The quote from a senior Russian military commander doesn't really fill me with confidence that the Russian occupation of Georgia is ending any time soon:

The quote from a senior Russian military commander doesn’t really fill me with confidence that the Russian occupation of Georgia is ending any time soon:

I can say for certain when the New Year will come but I cannot give an exact date for the withdrawal of our troops from the conflict area yet," said Col.-General Anatoly Nogovitsyn. "I can only say that we will not be leaving as fast as we came."

Russia seems to be continuing the dismantling of Georgia’s miltiary infrastructure even as President Medvedev speaks as if the withdrawal is already happening. In spite of Nogovitsyn’s assurances that troops are pulling out of the central Georgian city of Gori, there’s no sign that they’re leaving.

It’s now been almost a week since Medvedev ordered a ceasefire. I’m curious to see how long the Russians can plausibly claim to be withdrawing without any of their troops actually leaving Georgia.

Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating

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