Russian forces pull back from Igoeti’s center

The cease-fire deal calls for both Russia and Georgia to pull back to positions they held before Aug. 8.

IGOETI, Georgia (AP) — Russian forces pulled back Saturday from the center of a town not far from Georgia’s capital after Russia’s president signed a cease-fire deal, but other troops stayed put despite U.S. pressure for Moscow to honor the agreement.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said a broader withdrawal would come only with further security measures, calling into question how quickly the troops will be out.

Lavrov also said Russia would strengthen its peacekeeping contingent in South Ossetia, the breakaway Georgian region at the center of more than a week of warfare that has sharply soured relations between Moscow and the West.

The cease-fire deal, signed a day earlier by Georgian President Mikhail Saakshvili after lengthy talks with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, calls for both Russian and Georgian forces to pull back to positions they held before fighting erupted Aug. 8.

Georgia launched a massive barrage to try to take control of the Russian-backed separatist region of South Ossetia. The Russian army quickly overwhelmed the forces of its small U.S.-backed neighbor and Moscow’s troops drove deep into Georgia.

The Russian seizure of territory raised fears that Moscow was aiming for a permanent occupation of the country that once was part of its empire.

Lavrov, the foreign minister, confirmed that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the cease-fire and ordered its implementation. But he suggested there would be no immediate withdrawal. He said Russian peacekeepers must strengthen security.

“As these additional security measures are taken, the units of the Russian armed forces that were sent into the zone of the South Ossetian conflict ... will be withdrawn.”

Asked how much time it would take, he responded: “As much as is needed.”

The crisis has chilled relations between the United States and Russia. The fighting comes as the U.S. is sealing the deal on a missile shield in Europe — an issue already unraveling ties between the two former Cold War foes.

Poland and the U.S. signed a deal Thursday for Poland to accept a missile interceptor base as part of a system the U.S. says is aimed at blocking attacks by adversaries such as Iran. Moscow feels it is aimed at Russia’s missile force.

Keeping up the diplomatic pressure, Rice planned to go to Brussels next week for meetings with the foreign ministers of NATO allies and European Union officials.

Lavrov was not specific about the security measures, but suggested they would be limited mostly to South Ossetia, not Georgia proper. He accused Georgia of undermining security, citing the Russian military’s claim that it had averted an attack on a highway tunnel by stopping a car laden with grenade launchers and ammunition.

“We are constantly encountering problems from the Georgian side, and everything will depend on how effectively and quickly these problems are resolved,” he said.

Georgia, meanwhile, claimed that Russian forces blew up a railroad bridge Saturday. Russia denied it.

Russian soldiers earlier dug shallow foxholes in the center of Igoeti, some 30 miles from Tbilisi, but abandoned them later Saturday. But tanks and troops were still in place on a hillside on the edge of Igoeti, and there was no immediate signs of a pullout from the strategic central city of Gori, about 20 miles up the road.