As of 0855 GMT Tues­day, Russ­ian Pres­i­dent Dmitry Medvedev has ordered a halt to Russ­ian oper­a­tions in Geor­gia, South Osse­tia and Abk­hazia. This is accord­ing to the Russ­ian press agency Inter­fax. [Hur­riyet reports that French Pres­i­dent Nico­las Sarkozy will attempt to cement a cease-fire.](http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/home/9640090.asp?scr=1)

“On the basis of your report, I have taken the deci­sion to bring to an end the oper­a­tion to force the Geor­gian author­i­ties to peace,” Medvedev told Russ­ian Defence Min­is­ter Ana­toly Serdyukov, accord­ing to a Krem­lin spokesman.

The cease­fire pro­posal is appar­ently the one drawn up by the Organ­i­sa­tion for Secu­rity and Coop­er­a­tion in Europe, which was signed yes­ter­day by Geor­gian pres­i­dent Mikhail Saakashvili.

Not that this will return the region to nor­mal. NATO’s east­ward expan­sion has now fin­ished, and Amer­i­can promises of friend­ship are not worth the paper they’re writ­ten on. As the Geor­gians have com­plained, why did the help the U.S. in Iraq if Wash­ing­ton turns its back on them when they come under attack? (That it appears that Saakashvili walked into a trap set by Rus­sia is almost beside the point.) And could Pres­i­dent Bush have appeared less con­cerned as he yukked it up with vol­ley­ball play­ers in Beijing?

The world has entered a both a new period, but one that looks very famil­iar to those of us who remem­ber the Cold War.