Saakashvili says West must make Russia quit Georgia

PARIS (Reuters) - The European Union and the United States should act to make Russian forces leave Georgia and stop further expansionism, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili told a French newspaper on Thursday.

The comments came as frustration has grown in the West over Russian delays in withdrawing troops from Georgia, as agreed in a ceasefire negotiated by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country holds the rotating European Union presidency.

"They must make Russia leave Georgian territory," Saakashvili told Le Figaro in an interview published on the newspaper's website.

"If we let this regime do as it wants, it won't stop there," he said. "We must ensure that the Russians do not get away with it just like that, otherwise they will think they can do what they want and establish new rules."

Saakashvili criticized the French-brokered ceasefire as "ambiguous and unclear" and said it left the Russians the room to do as they wanted on the ground.

"The result is that we now have to depend on the goodwill of Russia. The only forces on the ground are Russian. All we can do is make declarations," he said.

(Writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Giles Elgood)