European monitors patrol areas of Georgia

As part of the French-brokered cease-fire deal, Moscow agreed to withdraw its forces completely from areas outside of South Ossetia and Abkhazia within 10 days of the EU monitors' deployment — including from a roughly 4-mile buffer zone they have created southward from South Ossetia.

"The Russians gave us plans for dismantling their (check)points but didn't say when," EU mission director Hansjoerg Haber told reporters.

At the Russian checkpoint near the Georgian village of Kvenatkotsa, an armored personnel carrier was parked up the hill near camouflaged tents and there was no sign of any preparations for a Russian troop pullback.

But Medvedev said Moscow would withdraw from the security zones as promised.

"Russian peacekeepers will be fully withdrawn from Georgian territory within the established time frame, as determined in the agreement," Medvedev said after the meeting with Zapatero.

He clearly did not mean Russia would withdraw from South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which it has recognized as independent and no longer considers parts of Georgia.

"Show the flag, be friendly, show confidence," Haber told monitors in Basaleti, about 12 miles north of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.

The EU observers will be based in four semi-permanent locations, including the central city of Gori near South Ossetia and the Black Sea port of Poti, key targets of Russian forces.

Solana, who visited Georgia on Tuesday, expressed optimism that Moscow would pull its troops back in the promised time frame.

Russia's continued occupation of Georgian territory and its subsequent recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia has drawn strong condemnation from the West, which urged Moscow to respect Georgia's sovereignty.

Medvedev insisted Wednesday that the military action was necessary to repel the Georgian aggression and protect Russian citizens and peacekeepers in the region.

"We did the right thing," Medvedev said in the Kremlin after giving medals to soldiers who fought in the war. "We have shown that Russia can protect its citizens, that all other nations must reckon with it."

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