TBILISI, August 18, 2008 (AFP) - Georgia sees no sign of the start of a promised Russian withdrawal from Georgian territory, its top national security official said Monday, despite the Russian military's insistence it had begun.

'The situation still remains unchanged. We see no signs of a pullout,' the Secretary of Georgia's National Security Council, Alexander Lomaia, told AFP.

'Entry to the city of Gori is practically impossible,' he added, referring to checkpoints on the road to Gori which lies 60 kilometres (40 miles) outside Tbilisi.

He added that there were still 'dozens' of Russian checkpoints on the country's main road between the village of Igoeti -- 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of Tbilisi -- to the central city of Khashuri.

Earlier, the deputy head of Russia's general staff, General Anatoly Nogovitsyn, announced that 'today, in line with the plan, the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers has begun.'