The text of the Joint Declaration of the Presidents:

„Reaffirming our commitment to the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognized borders,

Welcoming the EU Presidency’s efforts to restore status quo ante in Georgia-Russia relations as a key precondition for rebuilding the momentum in the ongoing conflict resolution process,

Being deeply concerned with the lack of will on the Russian side to comply with the latest ceasefire agreements as well as with the other commitments achieved earlier bilaterally, regionally and internationally,

The Presidents of Lithuanian and Poland declare:

1. We regret to acknowledge that the 12 August ceasefire agreement has not yet been fully implemented, in particular with respect to the points concerning Russian troops’ withdrawal to pre-conflict positions and free access to humanitarian aid, as it was agreed between the European and Russian leaderships. The withdrawal of Russian troops should be internationally observed and verified, which means that the OSCE as well as EU observers should be allowed in the occupied Georgian territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia

2. We stress that the current deployment and continuous increase of Russian troops in Georgia, including Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia, undermine the peace building efforts in Georgia sponsored by the European Union and other international agencies. It also violates the conditions set out in the 17 November 1999 Joint Statement of the Russian Federation and Georgia (Annex 14 of the Final Act of the Conference of the State Parties to the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe).

3. We call on the international community and the governments of the European Union to demand full and unconditional withdrawal of Russian troops from Georgian territory in compliance with the 12 August ceasefire agreement, which was unanimously confirmed by the European leaders at the September 1st EU Summit.

4. We reiterate that under the continued occupation of Georgian territories it would be too early to resume talks on a new partnership agreement with Russia. The new partnership agreement cannot be compatible with Russian military incursions into the neighboring states. We stress once again the importance of the September 1st EU Summit Conclusions agreed by all EU leaders and we underline that negotiations on the EU and Russia agreement should be renewed only when Russia withdraws its troops from Georgia to the positions held prior to August 7th.

Valdas Adamkus
President of the Republic of Lithuania

Lech Kaczyński
President of Republic of Poland“.