AP:

Russian soldiers showed no signs of pulling back and a top Russian general said Moscow plans to construct checkpoints in the so-called “security zone” around the border with South Ossetia. The cease-fire that calls for both sides to pull back to their pre-fighting positions allows Russia to maintain troops in a zone extending 4.3 miles into Georgia along the South Ossetian border…

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said his troops will complete their pullback moves by Friday, but few signs of movement have been seen other than the departure of a small portion of the troops who have held the strategic city of Gori, another 25 miles west of Igoeti.

The White House made clear it expected Russia to move faster. “It didn’t take them really three or four days to get into Georgia, and it really shouldn’t take them three or four days to get out,” spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.

Germany also pressed Russia to fulfill its pledge. “We have no firm indications the Russian troop withdrawal has really begun,” government spokesman Thomas Steg said Wednesday. He added it is “a very unsatisfactory situation.”

At this rate the Russians could be out by Christmas.

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