After a four-hour negotiation with the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia announced Monday that his country would withdraw its troops by Oct. 11 from all its positions outside the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. He also agreed to allow 200 observers from the European Union to monitor the conflict, and to take part in international talks on the future of the region starting Oct. 15.
But Mr. Medvedev said Russia would stand by its decision to recognize the two regions as independent nations. "We have made our choice," he said, at a joint news conference after the meeting with Mr. Sarkozy. "This is a final choice, an irreversible choice. This is an irrevocable decision."