Russia says it's fulfilled Georgia pullout pledge

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said it had completed on Friday the pullout from Georgia of troops it sent in to reinforce peacekeepers, adding that meant it had complied with a French-brokered ceasefire deal.

The Defence Ministry said in a statement that troops manning peacekeeping checkpoints, who will remain inside Georgia proper after the pullout, had begun carrying out their duties.

"Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov has reported to the Commander-in-Chief, Dmitry Medvedev, on the completion of the order to pull out from Georgian territory Russian troops sent to reinforce peacekeepers," the statement said.

"The pullout was carried out without any incidents and was completed according to plan at 19:50 Moscow time (11:50 a.m. EDT)."

"Russian military columns proceeded to the territory of South Ossetia. A part of these units is already at its permanent bases on Russian territory."

"Peacekeeping checkpoints in the security zone have started carrying out the tasks set before them. In this way, the Russian side has implemented the agreements set out in the Moscow principles by Medvedev and (French President Nicolas) Sarkozy," the statement said.