NBC - War between Russia and Georgia has ended. - Thousands have died ( Could this be the begining to something bigger ) 12 August 2008
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has called an end to the military operation in Georgia, but has stressed that in the event of Georgian attack, Russian troops will hit back.
He gave this account in a televised meeting with military chiefs.
"On the basis of your report, I've decided to conclude the operation to force the Georgian authorities into peace," he said.
"The aim of the operation has been achieved. The safety of our peace keeping forces and the civilian population has been restored.
"The aggressor has been punished and has suffered very significant losses."
But he said settling the conflict with Georgia depended on two conditions, including Tbilisi moving its troops to pre-conflict positions.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, in Moscow to promote an international plan to end hostilities, called for fast efforts to create a timetable to ensure all forces returned to previous positions.
"We can discuss the question of a definitive settlement if two conditions are met," Mr Medvedev, who earlier announced a halt to military operations, said in the Kremlin before meeting the French leader.
"First, Georgian troops should return to their initial position and be partly demilitarised. Second, we need to sign a binding agreement on non-use of force."
Mr Sarkozy, trying to adopt an even-handed approach to the conflict, welcomed the announcement of a Russian halt to military operations.
'Still bombing'
Georgia's Government says several villages are still being bombed, despite the ceasefire announcement.
Just before Russia announced the end of its operations it hit central Georgia hard.
It bombed the town of Gori which lies on a key crossroads between South Ossetia and the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.
Witnesses say a hospital in the town was hit in the assault, although this has not been independently confirmed.
Several Georgian military vehicles were reportedly destroyed. Russian backed separatists in Georgia's other breakaway province, Abkhazia, also kept up their attacks on local Georgian forces.
he UNHCR said numbers supplied by the Georgian and Russian governments indicated that some 30,000 South Ossetians had moved into North Ossetia and that up to 12,000 displaced were within South Ossetia itself.
A few thousand have fled south from South Ossetia into Georgia proper, while 56,000 people from the Gori region in Georgia have also been displaced, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said, quoting figures from Georgian officials.