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The Russians did agree to withdraw their troops from Georgia which they still have not. Do you think maybe there is a reason why most of the former Soviet Republics are distrustful?
Georgia wants the Russians out. They are not welcome. Do you understand?

And the Russians have agreed to leave by April 2007, which Georgia wants to change. Even the UN recoginzes that date and the need to protect the people there.

Note the following from Putin's interview just last week.

GARI GULUSANI: Good afternoon, Vladimir Vladimirovich. My name is Gari Shotovich Gulusani. I have been living here for more than 30 years now and I moved here from Abkhazia. My parents and my brother still live in Abkhazia. I was there just a week ago and so I know for myself what kind of tension there is there today. People are waiting for war. Is there not a way for Abkhazia to become part of Russia? South Ossetia and Trans-Dniestr also want to be with us. The referendum in Kosovo was recognised, and why should Abkhazia be any different?

Thank you.

VLADIMIR PUTIN: Yes, it seems you have already heard what I have said on this issue and have formulated your question accordingly, Gari Shotovich. Indeed, people in Abkhazia and in South Ossetia are very worried by the military build up in Georgia, and we in Russia are also very worried by this. The worsening in relations between Russia and Georgia is linked precisely to this issue, to the attempt or preparations to try to settle the problems of South Ossetia and Abkhazia through the use of force. If the Georgian leadership does decide to follow such a path this would be a big mistake, and I do not think it would benefit the Georgian people. Under no circumstances should events be allowed to develop in this way. If people want to live together, they need to find peaceful means of settling their problems, through consensus and finding compromise solutions.

As for the question of any other territories becoming part of the Russian Federation, I must say that we do not seek to expand our territory. Even after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia remains the biggest country in the world. We have enough territory of our own. But we cannot allow bloodshed in this region. The action that we have taken with regard to Georgia lately has nothing at all to do with plans to join NATO or anything else. Every country has the sovereign right to decide its own security matters. The only motive behind our action is a desire to prevent any bloodshed.

We know the background for the relations between the peoples of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. We know that the Georgian armed forces carried out three punitive operations against the Ossetians in 1920. These are the difficult pages of history that are part of our inheritance, and we need to remember these things and be very careful in our action.
,br> That said, I fully realize there has been genocide on both sides in Georgia.