Russia has told the West it will begin withdrawing forces from Georgia on Monday after a war that dealt a humiliating blow to the Black Sea state and raised fears for energy supplies to Europe.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had told him by telephone that forces would begin leaving around midday on Monday.

President Sarkozy, representing the European Union, said failure to pull out under a ceasefire deal would have "serious consequences" for ties with the EU.

Major-General Vyacheslav Borisov, frontline commander around Gori, which lies 20 miles beyond South Ossetia, said troops were already on the move: "You must understand there are a large amount of troops."

Major-General Borisov said his soldiers were maintaining positions around Gori, a city controlling the approach to South Ossetia and the main east-west highway, to protect Russia's military pullout.

Months of tension between Georgia and its former Soviet master erupted on August 7, when Tbilisi launched an assault to seize back control of the Russian-backed breakaway South Ossetia region.

Russia said 1,600 civilians, many of them Russian citizens, were killed in the Georgian bombardment.

Russian troops fanned out beyond the boundaries of South Ossetia into the Georgian heartland, taking control of major centres including the strategically placed city of Gori in fierce fighting that lasted over five days.

Both sides raised accusations of atrocities.

The Kremlin confirmed President Sarkozy's announcement: "From Monday, Russia will begin the withdrawal of the military contingent which was moved to reinforce Russian peacekeepers after the Georgian aggression against South Ossetia."

After the announcement Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili asked for the withdrawal to be monitored by international organisations.

He said: "We need immediate withdrawal, we need verification of withdrawal and ceasefire, preferably by EU (European Union) and OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe) monitors."

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