South Ossetia had ended. The war displaced 192,000 people, and while many were able to return to their homes after the war, a year later around 30,000 ethnic Georgians remained displaced. In an interview published in "Kommersant", South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity said he would not allow Georgians to return. President of France Nicolas Sarkozy negotiated a ceasefire agreement on 12 August 2008. On 17 August, Russian president Dmitry Medvedev announced that Russian forces would begin to pull out of Georgia the following day. Russia recognised Abkhazia and South Ossetia as separate republics on 26 August. In response to Russia's recognition, the
Russia–South Ossetia relations on the night of 7 to 8 August 2008, the Georgian military launched an offensive on Tskhinval, the South Ossetian capital. The leader of Georgian peacekeepers in South Ossetia said the purpose was to "restore constitutional order" in the region. The majority of the inhabitants of South Ossetia hold Russian citizenship, and Russia citing Chapter VII Article 51 of the United Nations Charter sent troops into South Ossetia through the Roki Tunnel in the morning of 8 August. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, in noting the deaths of Russian peacekeepers and South Ossetian civilians, stated: "In accordance with the Constitution and