GORI, Georgia - Russia’s president said troops would begin pulling out of Georgia tomorrow, but made no mention of leaving the separatist province at the heart of the conflict between the countries.

A defiant Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said the former Soviet republic would not relinquish South Ossetia or Abkhazia — both now overrun with Russian troops and abandoned by Georgian soldiers — as Western leaders pushed for a swift Russian withdrawal from positions it has held for days of warfare.