Russia's foreign minister says that Russian troops will stay in Georgia's breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia for a long time. Sergey Lavrov says that the Russian military presence is necessary to avert Georgian attempts to regain control. He didn't say Tuesday how many troops will be based in the two regions. Lavrov said Russia will sign formal agreements with both regions regarding the troops' presence, according to a report of the Associated Press.
