An association of nationalist groups, the All-Tatar Civic Center, swiftly published an appeal that “for the first time in recent history, Russia has recognized the state independence of its own citizens” and expressed the devout wish that Tatarstan would be next. The declaration was far-fetched, its authors knew: One of Vladimir V. Putin’s signal achievements as Mr. Medvedev’s predecessor was to suppress separatism. The Tatar movement was at its lowest ebb in 20 years.

Russian president Dmitri A. Medvedev announced Monday that Russia had agreed to withdraw its troops by mid-October from its positions in Georgia outside the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. But Mr. Medvedev said Russia would stand by its decision to recognize the two breakaway regions as independent nations.

Flanked by two Russian flags, President Dmitry Medvedev announced he had signed decrees recognising the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the two regions at the heart of the conflict that erupted this month in Georgia. “This is not an easy choice, but it is the only way to save the lives of people,” Mr. Medvedev said in a nationally-televised address.

The military redeployment indicates that despite the French-brokered cease-fire framework that Russia accepted, it is striving to maintain considerable economic and military pressure on Georgia, a close ally of the United States. The ultimate goal, it seems, is the ouster of its pro-Western president, Mikheil Saakashvili.

American officials have demanded that Russian troops pull back from their positions inside Georgia and that the Russian military presence in the enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia be limited to the Russian peacekeeping force that was there before the conflict erupted earlier this month.

Under a French-brokered ceasefire agreed on Tuesday, Russian and Georgian forces were to return to positions they had before Georgia launched its offensive against South Ossetia last Thursday night. But the Georgian interior ministry said that Russian troops were “destroying” Gori and demolishing installations in the port city of Poti.

Europe and the United States must make clear to Russian President Dmitri Medvedev — and the real power player, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin — that more aggression and lies will not be tolerated. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice must leave no doubt that there can be no military solution to the dispute with Russia.

After five days of fighting, President Medvedev of Russia ordered his troops in South Ossetia to hold their fire and fixed a peace plan with President Sarkozy of France. In the United States, there was widespread dismay over the ease with which Moscow had imposed its will on a loyal US ally.

Most of the former Soviet republic’s military forces are locked up in fighting around the other breakaway region of South Ossetia, where Georgian forces had earlier resumed shelling of the enclave’s capital Tskhinvali. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said Russia was seeking to occupy all of Georgia.

Georgia’s Interior Ministry said that Russia had built up large forces in Abkhazia and South Ossetia — breakaway regions that have support from Moscow — including 300 artillery pieces in South Ossetia alone. Russian forces, a spokesman said, were also poised just over the border at Larsi, where they could open a third line of attack.