Russian soldiers pack up at the Georgian village of Karaleti on Tuesday. Russia must pull out of territory surrounding the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia by Friday. (Sergey Ponomarev/Associated Press)While Russia completed a total withdrawal of its troops from buffer zones surrounding Georgia's two breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia on Wednesday, the Georgian government said Moscow hadn't done enough.

"Russia seems to have completed most of the withdrawal," said Hansjoerg Haber, head of an EU contingent supervising the withdrawal, adding that his team was still verifying the situation on the ground.

The Interfax news agency quoted a Russian Defence Ministry official as saying Russian forces had already shut down all six of their checkpoints in Georgian territory.

The Georgian government also confirmed Russia's account.

"We can confirm that from the so-called buffer zones the withdrawal is complete," said Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili.

Russia was to withdraw all of its troops from Georgian territory by Friday as part of an EU-brokered peace deal.

But Foreign Minister Eka Tkeshelashvili gave Russia a Friday deadline to pull remaining troops out of two contested Georgian-populated enclaves — Akhalgori in South Ossetia and the Kodori Gorge in Abkhazia.

"By Oct. 10 ... Russian forces have to withdraw definitely from the territories which never used to be part of the conflict regions of South Ossetia or Abkhazia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union," Tkeshelashvili told a teleconference.

Tbilisi has said the two regions have been part of Georgia for years, and neither South Ossetia or Abkhazia can lay claim to them.

Russia, on the other hand, contests Georgia's ownership claims.

The dispute underlined the potential for renewed conflict, as more than 200 EU observers patrol the zones to monitor the fragile ceasefire.

Russia plans to keep 7,600 troops in the rebel regions, which it has recognized as independent states in the aftermath of the conflict between Russia and Georgia.

Russia's move earns plaudits from Sarkozy

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev pledged earlier Wednesday that Russian troops would leave Georgian territory by midnight.

"By 24:00 today, the Russia peacekeeping contingent will leave the security zones in South Ossetia and Abkhazia," Medvedev said at a conference in the resort town of Evian, France.

He made the remarks at a speech that lauded the European Union for being a pragmatic and responsible partner during the Georgian crisis.

French President and current EU head Nicholas Sarkozy said the withdrawal was a sign that talks on an EU-Russia partnership could forge ahead. The talks had broken off last month following EU discontent with Russia's handling of the conflict.

Medvedev had "kept his word" by fulfilling the withdrawal, Agence France-Presse quoted Sarkozy as saying.

Medvedev harshly critical of U.S. foreign policy

Washington also welcomed news of the pullout developments.

"I am pleased that Russia appears to be fulfilling its obligation under the ceasefire to withdraw in compliance with Friday's deadline in Georgia," U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday.

Medvedev, however, was highly critical of the United States in his address, saying Washington's foreign policy was undermining international security.

"A desire by the United States to consolidate its global domination led to it missing a historical chance ... to build a truly democratic world order," Medvedev said of U.S. actions since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Russia was willing to partner with the U.S. in the fight against terrorism, said Medvedev.

But "a series of unilateral actions" like the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and Washington's plan to install elements of a missile-defence system in eastern Europe scuttled that partnership, he said.

"As a result, a trend appeared in international relations towards creating dividing lines. This was, in fact, the revival of a policy popular in the past and known as containment."

In the address, he said Europe needs a security pact that bans the use of force and that ensures that no single country, Russia included, would have a monopoly on providing security for the continent. He also stressed the importance of replacing the START treaty, an arms control pact with the United States due to expire next year.

Washington-Moscow relations have become increasingly strained over the last few years, and verbal sparring has escalated since the conflict between Russia and Georgia began in August.

Foreign minister demands arms embargo for Georgia

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, meanwhile, said on Wednesday that Moscow would call for an embargo on the sale of offensive weapons to Tbilisi at international talks in Geneva on Oct. 15. Russia will also demand a security mechanism to prevent Georgian attacks, he said.

Russian troops began withdrawing troops from Georgia on Sunday in compliance with the ceasefire agreement reached in August.

The conflict was sparked by a Georgian invasion of South Ossetia on Aug. 7, after which Russian troops intervened, quickly routing the Georgian forces.

With files from Reuters