There’s been a lot happening related to Russia’s invasion of Georgia, so consider this a bit of an information link-dump.

First, France’s Nicolas Sarkozy went to Georgia to work on brokering a ceasefire. Sarkozy also sits in the President’s chait of the EU, so he carried a bit more diplomatic weight than usual. You can also bet that he carried some words from President Bush with him.

His visit must have had some effect, because today Russia announced that its military operation was over and the two sides are working on a cease-fire. My guess here is that Sarkozy’s visit had something to do with it, but not as much as the fact that Russia got exactly what it wanted out of the deal. Putin is still calling the Georgian President persona non grata as far as Russia is concerned and is considering trying him under Russian law for supposed “war crimes”. I’m not sure how far he’ll get with that, but two weeks ago, who would have thought that he could have invaded Georgia bombed a few cities, and killed a few thousand Georgians? Ed Morrissey notes that Putin is still reserving the right to hammer the Georgian military pretty much for any reason he chooses. Putin is also still insisting that Georgian troops be prohibited from the two rebelling provinces inside Georgia, which would make them a de facto part of Russia.

The Washington Times’ Wes Pruden got off a great line this morning:

His critics ought to give George W. a little credit. He famously looked into Vladimir Putin’s eyes and saw a soul. That’s more than anybody else has ever found there.

As noted in the New York Times article I linked earlier, President Saakashvili has withdrawn Georgia from the Commonwealth of Independent States and was joined today by the heads of state of five other former Soviet satellites. He has promised that Russia will pay for the death and destruction in Georgia and I do not doubt him.