MOSCOW - Russian President Dmitri Medvedev ordered a halt to military action in Georgia Tuesday, saying it had punished Georgia and brought security for civilians and Russian peacekeepers in the breakaway South Ossetia region.
"The security of our peacekeepers and civilians has been restored," Medvedev said in a nationally televised statement. "The aggressor has been punished and suffered very significant losses. Its military has been disorganized."
At the same time, Medvedev ordered the military to quell any signs of Georgian resistance.
"If there are any emerging hotbeds of resistance or any aggressive actions, you should take steps to destroy them," he told his defense minister at a Kremlin meeting.
Russia's foreign minister, meanwhile, said that Georgia's president must leave office and Georgian troops should stay out of the pro-Russian South Ossetia region for good.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow won't talk to President Mikhail Saakashvili and Saakashvili "better go