Georgia signs cease-fire

Georgia’s president said today he signed a cease-fire pledge proposed by envoys from the European Union.

President Mikhail Saakashvili said he signed the document together with French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner and his Finnish counterpart, Alexander Stubb.

Mr Saakashvili said the EU mediators will head to Moscow later today to try to persuade Russia to accept the cease-fire.

Meanwhile a senior Russian general said there were no plans to move troops further into Georgian territory.

Deputy chief of General Staff Anatoly Nogovitsyn said Russia had also demanded that Georgian troops near the second breakaway province of Abkhazia disarm.

The warning has raised Georgian fears that Russia might open a second front in the conflict over the original breakaway province of South Ossetia.