Russia and Georgia at war

[Rasputin]

Russia and Georgia were effectively at war last night after a festering conflict in the Caucasus plunged out of control following a Georgian military attempt to recover its breakaway region of South Ossetia.

Tanks and artillery from Russia's 58th army were in Tskhinvali, South Ossetia's capital, to prevent Georgian forces attacking Russian peacekeepers and civilians, the defence ministry in Moscow said.

Russian soldiers in the capital said their artillery had begun firing at Georgian forces - the first confirmed engagement between the two countries' troops, and the two sides were last night engaged in "fierce" fighting.

"Georgian troop positions firing on Tskhinvali and peacekeepers were suppressed by artillery fire and tank units of the 58th army, which are outside the capital of South Ossetia," the television channel Vesti-24 quoted Russian army colonel Igor Konashenkov as saying.

Georgia's President Mikheil Saakashvili said Russian tanks were rumbling into South Ossetia and Georgian officials said Russian jets had bombed a military airbase outside Tbilisi, the Black Sea port of Poti and other targets.

"One hundred and fifty Russian tanks, armoured personnel carriers and other vehicles have entered South Ossetia. This is a clear intrusion. We have Russian tanks on our territory, jets on our territory in broad daylight," Saakashvili told a news conference.

Tbilisi was last night set to declare martial law, said Kakha Lomaia the secretary of Georgia's security council.

At the United Nations Russian and Georgian envoys hurled accusations at each other, as a divided Security Council yesterday struggled to agree on language calling for an end to the fighting in a second emergency meeting in under 12 hours.

In Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian leader, Eduard Kokoity, claimed 1,400 civilians had been killed. There was no independent confirmation of his assertion, but witnesses said the city was devastated. Lyudmila Ostayeva, who had fled the city with her family, said: "I saw bodies lying on the streets, around ruined buildings, in cars. There is hardly a single building left undamaged."

There are fears of full-blown war in the region, which is a crucial energy transit route in which Russia and the west are vying for influence. President George Bush pledged US support for Georgia's territorial integrity and the US, EU and Nato called for an immediate ceasefire.

The Russian retaliation came swiftly after Georgian forces made an overnight assault on South Ossetia. The Russians were enraged that the Georgians had targeted their peacekeepers, killing more than 10 of them and injuring 30, according to the Russian defence ministry.

Saakashvili accused Russia of being the aggressor, but the assault seemed timed to coincide with today's launch of the Olympic games. "Most decision-makers have gone for the holidays," he told CNN. "Brilliant moment to attack a small country."

President Dmitry Medvedev chaired an emergency session of Russia's security council, after which he said: "My duty as Russian president is to safeguard the lives and dignity of Russian citizens, wherever they are ... We will not allow the deaths of our compatriots to go unpunished. Those guilty will receive due punishment."

Many people in South Ossetia and Georgia's other breakaway region, Abkhazia, have Russian citizenship. In Beijing, the Russian prime minister, Vladimir Putin, met Bush briefly and they agreed that nobody wanted war. But Putin said that "many Russian volunteers intended to go to South Ossetia and he said it was very difficult to maintain peace in the region", Interfax quoted the prime minister's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, as saying.

In neighbouring North Ossetia, which is part of the Russian Federation, hundreds of volunteer fighters were mobilising and units of armed Cossacks were poised to join the battle for Tskhinvali.

[Rasputin]

Georgia today declared itself at war as Russian planes bombed a Georgian city in an escalation of the conflict over South Ossetia. Moscow claims the fighting has killed more than 2,000 people.

As the neighbouring countries edged closer to a full-scale conflict over their conflicting claims and allegiances to the territory, Britain was among a number of countries tonight pressing for an immediate ceasefire in Georgia as part of a high-level international delegation attempting to quell escalating violence in the region.

The British foreign secretary, David Miliband, expressed fears that the conflict over South Ossetia was spreading to other parts of the region with the prospect of "large scale" civilian losses.

Officials in another breakaway province, Abkhazia, said separatist forces had launched air and artillery strikes to drive Georgian troops out of the small part of the territory they still control. Georgia accused Russia of backing the Abkhazians.

The Kremlin said its forces were in control of the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, but Georgian officials denied this. The city is reportedly heavily damaged from Georgian bombardment and heavy fighting.

Russian planes today bombed the Georgian city of Gori, near the South Ossetian border, leaving apartment buildings ruined and ablaze. Witnesses reported scores of dead, including children and old people. Tens of thousands more are said to have fled into Russian territory as violence has increased over the last day.

Russia's ambassador to Georgia, Vyacheslav Kovalenko, told Interfax that at least 2,000 civilians had died in Tskhinvali alone since Georgia attacked the region on Friday and Russia responded with tanks, air raids and ground troops.

The Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili, dismissed Russian casualty claims as "a lie", saying very few civilians had died.

Tonight a senior US official described the Russian response in Georgia as "disproportionate". Earlier today president George Bush, in Beijing for the Olympic games, spoke to Saakashvili and the Russian president, Dmitri Medvedev, today to urge calm. The Kremlin said Medvedev told Bush the only way to end the conflict would be a withdrawal of Georgian forces.

The UK's special representative to the South Caucuses, Sir Brian Fall, was this evening attending emergency talks in Georgia with other officials from the US, European Union, Nato and the Organisation of Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

Moscow supports South Ossetia, which has had de facto independence from Georgia since 1992 after a bloody war. Many people in the region have Russian citizenship. Georgia claims South Ossetia as part of its territory.

Addressing a televised meeting today, Saakashvili described the conflict as open warfare. "I have signed a decree on a state of war. Georgia is in a state of total military aggression," he said, while calling for "an immediate ceasefire".

The decree allows for the mobilisation of reservists, among other measures. Georgia says it plans to remove its entire contingent of 2,000 troops from Iraq so they can assist in South Ossetia.

Vladimir Boldyrev, the commander of Russian ground forces, was quoted by Tass as saying Russian troops had "fully liberated Tskhinvali from the Georgian military".

Georgia, which said today it had downed 10 Russian aircraft and destroyed up to 30 tanks, maintains it is holding Tskhinvali. Witnesses in the city said they could only see Russian forces.

Russia – which has confirmed the loss of two planes – says it first sent tanks and artillery to Tskhinvali to prevent Georgian forces attacking Russian peacekeepers and civilians.

Aside from the regional impact, the fighting threatens to increase tensions between Russia and the US. Georgia is a close American ally and Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has said the US must bear some of the blame for arming and training Georgian soldiers.

Bush, speaking before heading to watch the US women's basketball team in Beijing, said he was "deeply concerned about the situation", notably Russia's bombing inside Georgia.

"The attacks are occurring in regions of Georgia far from the zone of conflict in South Ossetia," he said. "They mark a dangerous escalation in the crisis.

"We call for an end to the Russian bombings."

At the United Nations last night, Russian and Georgian envoys hurled accusations at each other as a divided security council failed to agree on language calling for an end to the fighting. Holding its second emergency meeting in under 12 hours, the council broke off in a stalemate late but was to reconvene today.

There are fears of full-blown war in the region, which is a crucial energy transit route in which Russia and the west are vying for influence.

In Abkhazia, which declared independence from Georgia but is still claimed by Tiblisi, Sergei Shamba, the region's foreign minister, said its forces intended to oust Georgian forces from the Kodori Gorge. The northern part of the gorge is the only area of Abkhazia that has remained under Georgian government control.

[Rasputin]

Georgia today declared itself at war as Russian planes bombed a Georgian city in an escalation of the conflict over South Ossetia. Moscow claims the fighting has killed more than 2,000 people.

As the neighbouring countries edged closer to a full-scale conflict over their conflicting claims and allegiances to the territory, Britain was among a number of countries tonight pressing for an immediate ceasefire in Georgia as part of a high-level international delegation attempting to quell escalating violence in the region.

The British foreign secretary, David Miliband, expressed fears that the conflict over South Ossetia was spreading to other parts of the region with the prospect of "large scale" civilian losses.

Officials in another breakaway province, Abkhazia, said separatist forces had launched air and artillery strikes to drive Georgian troops out of the small part of the territory they still control. Georgia accused Russia of backing the Abkhazians.

The Kremlin said its forces were in control of the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, but Georgian officials denied this. The city is reportedly heavily damaged from Georgian bombardment and heavy fighting.

Russian planes today bombed the Georgian city of Gori, near the South Ossetian border, leaving apartment buildings ruined and ablaze. Witnesses reported scores of dead, including children and old people. Tens of thousands more are said to have fled into Russian territory as violence has increased over the last day.

Russia's ambassador to Georgia, Vyacheslav Kovalenko, told Interfax that at least 2,000 civilians had died in Tskhinvali alone since Georgia attacked the region on Friday and Russia responded with tanks, air raids and ground troops.

The Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili, dismissed Russian casualty claims as "a lie", saying very few civilians had died.

Tonight a senior US official described the Russian response in Georgia as "disproportionate". Earlier today president George Bush, in Beijing for the Olympic games, spoke to Saakashvili and the Russian president, Dmitri Medvedev, today to urge calm. The Kremlin said Medvedev told Bush the only way to end the conflict would be a withdrawal of Georgian forces.

The UK's special representative to the South Caucuses, Sir Brian Fall, was this evening attending emergency talks in Georgia with other officials from the US, European Union, Nato and the Organisation of Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

Moscow supports South Ossetia, which has had de facto independence from Georgia since 1992 after a bloody war. Many people in the region have Russian citizenship. Georgia claims South Ossetia as part of its territory.

Addressing a televised meeting today, Saakashvili described the conflict as open warfare. "I have signed a decree on a state of war. Georgia is in a state of total military aggression," he said, while calling for "an immediate ceasefire".

The decree allows for the mobilisation of reservists, among other measures. Georgia says it plans to remove its entire contingent of 2,000 troops from Iraq so they can assist in South Ossetia.

Vladimir Boldyrev, the commander of Russian ground forces, was quoted by Tass as saying Russian troops had "fully liberated Tskhinvali from the Georgian military".

Georgia, which said today it had downed 10 Russian aircraft and destroyed up to 30 tanks, maintains it is holding Tskhinvali. Witnesses in the city said they could only see Russian forces.

Russia – which has confirmed the loss of two planes – says it first sent tanks and artillery to Tskhinvali to prevent Georgian forces attacking Russian peacekeepers and civilians.

Aside from the regional impact, the fighting threatens to increase tensions between Russia and the US. Georgia is a close American ally and Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has said the US must bear some of the blame for arming and training Georgian soldiers.

Bush, speaking before heading to watch the US women's basketball team in Beijing, said he was "deeply concerned about the situation", notably Russia's bombing inside Georgia.

"The attacks are occurring in regions of Georgia far from the zone of conflict in South Ossetia," he said. "They mark a dangerous escalation in the crisis.

"We call for an end to the Russian bombings."

At the United Nations last night, Russian and Georgian envoys hurled accusations at each other as a divided security council failed to agree on language calling for an end to the fighting. Holding its second emergency meeting in under 12 hours, the council broke off in a stalemate late but was to reconvene today.

There are fears of full-blown war in the region, which is a crucial energy transit route in which Russia and the west are vying for influence.

In Abkhazia, which declared independence from Georgia but is still claimed by Tiblisi, Sergei Shamba, the region's foreign minister, said its forces intended to oust Georgian forces from the Kodori Gorge. The northern part of the gorge is the only area of Abkhazia that has remained under Georgian government control.

[Rasputin]

Russia and small, U.S.-allied Georgia headed toward a wider war Saturday as Russian tanks rumbled into the contested province of South Ossetia and Russian aircraft bombed a Georgian town, escalating a conflict that already has left hundreds dead.
Georgia's Foreign Ministry said the country was "in a state of war" and accused Russia of beginning a "massive military aggression." The Georgian parliament approved a state of martial law, mobilizing reservists and ordering government authorities to work round-the-clock.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that Moscow sent troops into South Ossetia to force Georgia into a cease-fire and prevent Georgia from retaking control of its breakaway region after it launched a major offensive there overnight Friday.

In a meeting with refugees, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin characterized Georgia's actions as "complete genocide," according to his office's website. Putin also said Georgia had effectively lost the right to rule the breakaway province — an indication Moscow could be preparing to fulfill South Ossetians' wish to be absorbed into Russia.
The risk of the conflict setting off a wider war also increased Saturday when Russian-supported separatists in another breakaway region, Abkhazia, also targeted Georgian troops by launching air and artillery strikes to drive them out.

U.S. President George W. Bush called for an end to the Russian bombings and an immediate halt to the violence.

"The attacks are occurring in regions of Georgia far from the zone of conflict in South Ossetia. They mark a dangerous escalation in the crisis," Bush said in a statement to reporters while attending the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Georgia President Mikhail Saakashvili called it an "unprovoked brutal Russian invasion."

"This is about annihilation of a democracy on their borders," Saakashvili told the British Broadcasting Corp. "We on our own cannot fight with Russia. We want immediate cease-fire, immediate cessation of hostilities, separation of Russia and Georgia and international mediation."

At a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Saturday, the third in three days on the issue, Russia refused to agree to a cease-fire or a diplomatic agreement. The move ensured that the fighting with Georgia would keep spilling into other regions such as Abkhazia's Kodori Ridge, where 15 U.N. military observers were told to evacuate.

"A cease-fire would not be a solution. The fighting is still going on. The Georgian forces are continuing to be on the South Ossetian territory," Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said.

Georgia, a U.S. ally whose troops have been trained by American soldiers, launched the major offensive overnight Friday. Heavy rocket and artillery fire pounded the provincial capital, Tskhinvali. A South Ossetain government statement said firing died down in the capital early Sunday and that 12 Georgian tanks were destroyed on the city's outs***ts.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters Saturday in Moscow that some 1,500 people had been killed in South Ossetia since Friday, with the death toll rising. The figures could not be independently confirmed.

But Tskhinvali residents who survived the bombardment by hiding in basements and later fled the city estimated that hundreds of civilians had died. They said bodies were lying everywhere.

Georgia, a country about the size of South Carolina that borders the Black Sea between Turkey and Russia, was ruled by Moscow for most of the two centuries preceding the breakup of the Soviet Union. Today, Russia has approximately 30 times more people than Georgia and 240 times the area.

Both South Ossetia and Abkhazia have run their own affairs without international recognition since splitting from Georgia in the early 1990s and have built up ties with Moscow. Russia has granted its passports to most of their residents.

Putin arrived late Saturday in the Russian city of Vladikavkaz to talk to South Ossetian refugees who have fled the fighting. He said there were at least 34,000 refugees.

"The actions of the Georgian powers in South Ossetia are, of course, a crime — first of all against their own people," Putin said. "The territorial integrity of Georgia has suffered a fatal blow."

Other signs that Russia could be aiming to take in South Ossetia came from a pre-dawn meeting of Putin and Medvedev on Sunday outside Moscow.

Putin said the government was ready to earmark up to 10 billion rubles (US$425 million) for aid to the region, Russian news agencies said. Medvedev said he was ordering the military prosecutor to document crimes against civilians in South Ossetia.

Russia also laid much of the responsibility for ending the fighting on Washington, which has trained Georgian troops. Washington, in turned, blamed Russia.

"We have urged an immediate halt to the violence and a stand-down by all troops. We call for an end to the Russian bombings, and a return by the parties to the status quo," Bush said in the statement.

White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said Bush had spoken with both Medvedev and Saakashvili. But it was unclear what might persuade either side to stop shooting — both claim the other violated a cease-fire declared Thursday.

Alexander Lomaia, secretary of Georgia's Security Council, estimated that Russia sent 2,500 troops into Georgia. The Russian military would not comment on the number of troops. By late Saturday, Russian military commanders claimed they had driven Georgian forces out of Tskhinvali, a claim that Saakashvili denied.

Russia's ambassador to NATO Dmitry Rogozin said "98 percent of Tskhinvali" was in ruins. "Our troops have re-established control over the city," he said.

Smoke rose from the city, and intermittent artillery shelling and sporadic gunfire could still be heard.

Georgian forces knocked out about 40 Russian tanks around Tskhinvali, said Georgia's Deputy Interior Minister Eka Sguladze. "Our units are well-equipped with anti-tank rockets, and they thwarted a Russian tank attack," she told reporters.

Georgia, meanwhile, accused Russia of bombing its air bases and the town of Gori, just outside South Ossetia.

An Associated Press reporter who visited Gori shortly after the Russian airstrikes Saturday saw several apartment buildings in ruins, some still on fire, and scores of dead bodies and bloodied civilians. The elderly, women and children were among the victims.

The Russian warplanes appeared to have been targeting a military base in Gori's outs***ts that also was bombed.

The Interior Ministry said Russian warplanes also bombed the Vaziani military base on the outs***ts of the Georgian capital of Tbilisi and struck near the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. The ministry said two other military bases were hit, and that Russian warplanes also bombed the Black Sea port city of Poti, which has a sizable oil shipment facility.

Georgia said it has shot down 10 Russian planes, including four brought down Saturday, according to Lomaia. It also claimed to have captured two Russian pilots, who were shown on Georgian television.

Russian Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy chief of the General Staff, confirmed Saturday that two Russian planes had been shot down, but did not say where or when.

Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said Georgia brought the airstrikes upon itself by bombing civilians and Russian peacekeepers. He warned that the small Caucasus country should expect more attacks.

"Whatever side is used to bomb civilians and the positions of peacekeepers, this side is not safe and they should know this," Lavrov said.

Russian military commanders said 15 peacekeepers have been killed and about 150 wounded in South Ossetia, accusing Georgian troops of killing and wounding Russian peacekeepers when they seized Russian checkpoints. The allegations couldn't be independently confirmed.

In Abkhazia, the separatist government said it intended to push Georgian forces out of the Kodori Gorge. The northern part of the gorge is the only area of Abkhazia that has remained under Georgian government control. Lomaia confirmed that Georgian administrative buildings in the Kodori Gorge were bombed, but he blamed the attack on Russia.

[Rasputin]

Mighty Russia pressed its advantage against far smaller Georgia today as Tbilisi looked for a way out of the conflict it apparently started last week by moving to re-take its breakaway region of South Ossetia by force.

Reuters reported from the village of Ergneti, just inside Georgia,
that a Georgian military convoy towing heavy artillery had come through from South Ossetia as part of a pullout.

"They [our forces] have been withdrawn completely because of the heavy casualties Georgia has suffered," the Georgian interior ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said. The Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili, was reported to have visited Ergneti after his troops' withdrawal.

"Units of the Georgian armed forces have started withdrawing from Tskhinvali," the Russian military spokesman Anatoly Nogovitsyn told reporters in Moscow. "The withdrawal has been spotted by the peacekeeping forces' intelligence. The Georgian side has indeed started removing its units."

Spurred on by powerful Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who said Russia was within its rights, and by the new president, Dmitry Medvedev, who said Georgia's aggression would not go unpunished, Russian forces were likely to harry the retreating Georgians, at the very least.

Some observers feared Russia might not be satisfied until it saw the overthrow of Saakashvili, who has enraged Moscow with his pro-western stance and bid to bring his small nation into Nato.

And all over the region, there was worrying evidence that the conflict was widening. On the other side of the country, Georgia's other separatist region of Abkhazia was mobilising its forces for a push into the Kodori Gorge, the only part of Abkhazia controlled by Georgia.

"No dialogue is possible with the current Georgian leadership," said the Abkhaz leader, Sergei Bagapsh. "They are state criminals who must be tried for the crimes committed in South Ossetia, the genocide of the Ossetian people.

"We have received proposals for some sort of contact from the Georgian side. But we see yet again that they fail to grasp the meaning of what happened in the early 1990s [when Abkhazia and South Ossetia broke away] and they do not understand or do not want to understand what is going on now." Bagapsh claimed that women and children from villages inside Georgia were actually heading into Abkhazia to seek refuge.

Out in the Black Sea, off the Abkhazian coast, the Russian fleet, including the cruiser Moskva, was gathering. A naval source told Echo Moskvi radio this was not a blockade, as that would be an act of war and Russia was not at war with Georgia. The ships were there in case refugees needed help, he said.

The explanation given to Interfax by a source in Fleet headquarters seemed more likely. "The crews are assigned the task to not allow arms and military hardware supplies to reach Georgia by sea," he said.

Moscow appears to have calculated that the west, tied up in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and dependent on Russia for oil and gas, will do nothing to support Georgia beyond expressing impotent concern.

It remained to be seen how Moscow might respond to this development.

Ukraine, an ally of Georgia, said it reserved the right to bar Russian warships of the Black Sea fleet, dispatched to the Abkhazian coast, from returning to their Ukrainian base of Sevastopol, Interfax reported.

"Ukraine reserves the right to bar warships and vessels which could take part in the action from returning to Ukrainian territory until the conflict is solved," it quoted the Ukrainian foreign ministry as saying. "On Saturday, in a statement that hinted how the conflict could widen still further, Russia took a swipe at Ukraine, accusing it of "arming the Georgians to the teeth".

In ruined Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian government reported a relative lull in fighting and said morgues were receiving the dead. "The humanitarian situation is horrifying. We have no cameras and cannot document what we can see but the morgues are busy receiving streams of dead bodies," the government spokesperson Irina Gagloyeva said.

"The situation is tense but somewhat quieter. The city is not being shelled. We hear faraway artillery salvoes sometimes. By all accounts, Georgian troops are indeed leaving South Ossetia."

[Rasputin]

Russian forces were moving to take total control of South Ossetia last night as Georgia withdrew troops amid intense diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire to end the three-day conflict in which 2,000 people have reportedly been killed and up to 22,000 displaced. Seizing the opening offered by President Mikheil Saakashvili's doomed military incursion last week, Moscow also insisted the Georgian leader should resign, according to senior US diplomats.

Russian aircraft bombed Tbilisi's international airport hours before the French foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, was due to land on an EU mission, the Georgian interior ministry said. Last night it was reported that Russia sank a Georgian ship after coming under attack.

Russia and the US clashed at the UN security council - meeting for the fourth time in four days to discuss the crisis - over charges that Moscow wanted "regime change" in Georgia.

Zalid Khalilzad, the US ambassador to the UN, asked his Russian counterpart Vitali Churkin: "Is the goal of the Russian Federation to change the leadership of Georgia?" Churkin replied: "There are leaders who become an obstacle. Sometimes those leaders need to contemplate how useful they have become to their people."

Meanwhile, the tide of refugees fleeing ruined towns and villages showed no sign of ending last night as Russian forces pushed forward after Saakashvili pulled his bloodied troops out of the territory.

People spoke of their ordeal since an unexpected incursion by Georgian forces into Tskhinvali, the capital of the breakaway region, provoked a massive Russian response. Many had travelled in their nightclothes on rocky roads through the mountains and gave blood-curdling accounts of Georgian atrocities.

"I came in the boot of a car. Georgian snipers were firing at us from the forest. My brother stayed to fight. Our grandparents' home was reduced to rubble. We don't know where they are. Nothing is left of their village. It was totally destroyed by rockets and tank fire," Alisa Mamiyeva, 26, a teacher in Tskhinvali, said from the safety of Vladikavkaz in North Ossetia.

Russia's prime minister, Vladimir Putin, who has taken charge of the crisis, eclipsing the president, Dmitry Medvedev, visited refugees in hospitals in Vladikavkaz, and said 22,000 had crossed into Russia.

In Georgia, residents also gave accounts of horror, this time at Russian hands. Neither side is allowing independent reporters into the worst affected areas. Gori, the main staging post for Georgian troops on the way to and from South Ossetia, was largely a ghost town last night after thousands of residents escaped from Russian air attacks, a local journalist told the Guardian. "The town and many nearby villages are too dangerous. There are many wounded. No one knows how many are dead," said Saba Tsitsikashvili.

Georgia claimed its army's retreat in the face of overwhelming firepower was designed as a humanitarian gesture to prevent further Russian air attacks. "We have decided to redeploy our troops to get a chance to resist a superior Russian armed force with other methods," Timurt Yakobashvili, a Georgian state minister, said.

President Bush's deputy national security adviser, James Jeffrey, warned Russia of a "significant long-term impact" on US-Russian relations if Moscow continued its disproportionate actions.

Russian officials rejected claims that Moscow was trying to widen the conflict into Georgia's other breakway region of Abkhazia.

In a series of media interviews, Saakashvili sought to bring the United States fully behind him. After speaking to Bush by phone, he told Germany's Rhein-Zeitung newspaper: "[Bush] understands that it's not really about Georgia but in a certain sense it's also an aggression against America. The Russians want the whole of Georgia. The Russians need control over energy routes from central Asia and the Caspian Sea. In addition, they want to get rid of us, they want regime change. Every democratic movement in this neighbouring region must be got rid of," he was quoted as saying.

Key developments in the battle for South Ossetia
· Georgia said its troops were observing a truce and withdrawing from South Ossetia. Russia disputed this

· A Russian airstrike hit Tibilisi international airport

· French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner flew to Tbilisi in a mediation bid. Russian media said French president Nicolas Sarkozy would travel to Moscow this week

· More than 2,000 people had been killed in South Ossetia since Friday, according to Russia. The figure could not be verified

· Up to 20,000 refugees have fled South Ossetia, according to the UN which called for safe passage

· Georgia accused Russia of starting a military operation in Abkhazia. Moscow denied involvement

· The UN security council met for the fourth time in four days

· US President George Bush deplored Russia's "dangerous and disproportionate" actions

· The Pope expressed "profound anguish" over the many innocent victims of the conflict

[Rasputin]

Russia's punitive campaign in the Caucasus threatened to intensify into all-out war against Georgia last night, with Russian troops seizing control of strategic towns a couple of hours from the capital, and aircraft pounding Georgian infrastructure.

Vastly outnumbered by the Kremlin's ground and air forces, the Georgian government announced it was pulling back its troops to defend the capital, Tbilisi, against a feared Russian onslaught. Washington accused the Kremlin of long preparing an invasion of Georgia in "aggression that must not go unanswered".

"Russia has invaded a sovereign neighbouring state and threatens a democratic government elected by its people. Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st century," President George Bush said. "The Russian government must reverse the course that it appears to be on." He urged Russia to agree to a ceasefire offer by Georgia.

The Georgian authorities said the town of Gori, 40 miles north of Tbilisi, had, in effect, fallen to the Russians, who were also advancing from the breakaway province of Abkhazia in the west into territory previously under Georgian control.

"The Georgian army is retreating to defend the capital. The government is urgently seeking international intervention to prevent the fall of Georgia and further loss of life," said the Georgian government. Its president, Mikhail Saakashvili, said the Russian campaign was aimed at overthrowing his government.

The Georgian embassy in London last night accused Russia of attempting to "conquer" Georgia. "Today the statehood of Georgia is in great danger and thereby leaving existing world order in uncertainty."

Giorgi Badridze, acting head of the embassy, compared Russia's actions with Nazi incursions into Europe in the run-up to the second world war.

Alexander Lomaia of Georgia's National Security Council said: "Russia seems intent on overthrowing the democratically elected government of Georgia and occupying the country."

The Kremlin spurned a chorus of western calls for a ceasefire, already accepted by Saakashvili, and appeared determined to ram home its military advantage at the risk of sparking an international crisis. Moscow seemed intent on imposing humiliating truce terms on Georgia.

Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin, taking a leading role in the crisis, attacked Washington for helping Georgia fly home troops from Iraq and said the west was mistaking the aggressors for victims. "The cold war has long ended but the mentality of the cold war has stayed firmly in the minds of several US diplomats. It is a real shame," Putin said.

France's president, Nicolas Sarkozy, is to try to mediate in Moscow today before meeting Saakashvili in the Georgian capital, while Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany is to meet Russia's president, Dmitri Medvedev, in Sochi, just outside Georgia on the Black Sea, on Friday.

The US vice-president, Dick Cheney, said: "Russian aggression must not go unanswered and its continuation would have serious consequences for its relations with the United States."

Military officials in Moscow insisted yesterday that Russian forces would not move beyond the contested region of South Ossetia on Georgia's northern border with Russia. Sergei Ivanov, the deputy prime minister, insisted Russian "peacekeepers" were contained in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The Russian defence ministry said: "There are no Russian troops in Gori."

But by last night sources in Moscow and Tbilisi and observers on the ground confirmed that Russian troops had advanced tens of miles into Georgian-held territory from Abkhazia.

Russian troops and armoured vehicles were in control of a Georgian military base at Senaki, 25 miles beyond the Abkhaz boundary, UN military observers confirmed. The Russians had also seized Georgian police stations in Zugdidi after delivering an ultimatum to the Georgians to surrender their weapons near the Abkhaz frontlines. The towns of Kutaisi and Kurga were said to have been seized.

Georgian officials claimed that Russian tanks seized Gori, smashing the Georgian lines in two places to take control of the town that straddles the road connecting the eastern and western parts of Georgia.

Saba Tsitsikashvili, a local journalist in Gori, said Russian troops had occupied the main road on the edge of the city, but had not moved towards the centre. "People are in panic. This road where the troops are is about 2km from the centre," she said.

"This is a full-scale invasion." said Irakli Batkuashvili, head of Georgia's military planning division. "This is an occupation... Half of Georgia is under Russian control. Our aim now is to build up our troops and to create a defensive line in front of Tbilisi."

[Rasputin]

Villages in Georgia were being burned and looted as Russian tanks and soldiers followed by "irregulars" advanced from the breakaway province of South Ossetia, eyewitnesses said today.

"People are fleeing, there is a mood of absolute panic. The idea there is a ceasefire is ridiculous," Luke Harding, the Guardian's correspondent, said.

Earlier, witnesses reported a military convoy heading towards the Georgian capital Tbilisi, but it later turned off the road and headed back towards South Ossetia. Russia denied any advance.

Harding, watching villages near Gori burn, said witnesses had told him Russian military, including at least 25 tanks, had moved from the Russian-controlled South Ossetia into the villages.

"They asked villagers to hang white flags or handkerchiefs outside their houses if they did not want to be shot, they say."

The tanks had passed through the village of Rekha at about 11.20am local time. "Behind them (say eyewitnesses) is a whole column of irregulars who locals say are Chechens, Cossacks and Ossetians.

"Eyewitnesses say they are looting, killing and burning. These irregulars have killed three people and set fire to villages. They have been taking away young boys and girls," said Harding, watching smoke rise from another village, Karaleti.

He said he had witnessed people fleeing in the direction of Tbilisi. "For three hours there were people fleeing in cars, I saw one with 11 people and a Lada with eight people in it." He had also seen people fleeing on a horse and cart and a tractor.

Eyewitness claims could not be immediately verified.

It appeared that Russian tanks had entered Gori, targeting military installations, some built with Nato money.

Link to this audio
The ministry of foreign affairs in Georgia claimed four civilian cars with murdered passengers "were reported to have been seen in the village of Tedotsminda near Gori."

Russia's deputy chief of general staff, Colonel-General Anatoly Nogovitisyn, said earlier today that no tanks were in Gori. He claimed Russians went into the town to implement the truce with local officials but could find none.

A reporter from the Associated Press also said fighters from the other separatist region of Abkhazia had moved into Georgian territory, planting their flag on a bridge over the Inguri river and saying they were laying claim to what had historically been Abkhazian territory.

Earlier, Georgia said its troops had pulled out of Abkhazia after the Kremlin had laid down humiliating peace terms as the price for halting the Russian invasion and its four-day rout of Georgian forces.

The ceasefire required both sides to return to positions they held before the conflict started in South Ossetia last week.

The key demands are that the Georgian leader pledges to abjure all use of force to resolve Georgia's territorial disputes with the two breakaway pro-Russian provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia; and that Georgian forces withdraw entirely from South Ossetia and are no longer part of the joint "peacekeeping" contingent there with Russian and local forces.

The Russian president, Dimitry Medvedev, also insisted the populations of the two regions had to be allowed to vote on whether they wanted to join Russia, prefiguring a possible annexation that would enfeeble Georgia and leave its leader, Mikheil Saakashvili, looking crushed.

Russian leaders claimed Georgian forces perpetrated atrocities against civilians when Saakashvili gave the go-ahead last week for the bungled attempt to recapture South Ossetia.

The gamble triggered the onslaught which the US state department yesterday described as "plain and simple blatant aggression on the part of Russia".

Georgian forces have been part of the peacekeeping force in South Ossetia for the past 15 years. But Russian leaders declared yesterday the Georgians would not return, and South Ossetia would be under Russian control.

"They shot their brother Russian peacekeepers, then they finished them off with bayonets, so we are not going to see them there any more," said Dmitri Rogozin, the Russian ambassador to Nato in Brussels.

While Nato leaders in Brussels stressed that South Ossetia and Abkhazia were part of Georgia, Medvedev encouraged the secession of the two breakaway regions.

"Ossetians and Abkhaz must respond to that question taking their history into account, including what happened in the past few days," he said.

Western officials at Nato, in the EU, in the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and in Washington, while calling for an immediate ceasefire, also demanded that Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity be upheld.

Following a meeting of Nato states yesterday, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Nato's secretary general, accused Russia of not respecting Georgia's territorial integrity. "Abkhazia and Ossetia, if I mention territorial integrity, are to the best of my knowledge part of Georgia." He added that "Nato is not seeking a direct role or a military role in this conflict".

[Rasputin]

The US and the Europe today demanded that any settlement of the conflict in Georgia had to be based on recognition of the small Black Sea country's territorial integrity. But after overrunning Georgia in five days with troops, tanks, and bombers, Russia rejected the terms.

The EU unveiled a blueprint for ending the bloodshed in Georgia following several days of French-led shuttle diplomacy between Moscow and Tbilisi that resulted in a six-point plan underpinning a fragile ceasefire.

George Bush warned the Kremlin that it had to "keep its word and act to end this crisis."

But Russia refused to accept those terms, declined to acknowledge Georgian sovereignty over all of its recognised territory, and refused to have any reference to it in the six-point peace plan mediated by the French and agreed by both Moscow and Tbilisi.

European states agreed to dispatch scores of ceasefire monitors to Georgia as quickly as possible in the hope of securing the truce announced on yesterday. They may also lead an international peacekeeping mission to Georgia if the Georgians and Russians agree and a UN mandate is obtained, senior European officials said.

The Russians and the Georgians agreed to "international discussions" on South Ossetia and Abkhazia, but the Russians kept their options open on the two pro-Russian breakaway provinces.

An EU statement said any peace settlement had to be based on Georgia's recognised territorial integrity. Speaking at the White House, Bush said: "The United States of America stands with the democratically elected government of Georgia. We insist that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia be respected."

But Sergei Ivanov, Russia's deputy prime minister and former defence minister, repeatedly refused to recognize Georgian control over its territory.

"We recognise the sovereignty and independence of Georgia ... But territorial integrity, it's just another matter," he told BBC's Hardtalk. "South Ossetia and Abkhazia never were part of Georgia as an independent country."

The foreign ministers of the 27 EU countries interrupted their holidays for an emergency session on the Caucasus crisis today in Brussels. France's foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, just back from the conflict zone, admitted that the deal he and President Nicolas Sarkozy mediated was "partially unsatisfactory", but that the priority was to obtain a durable ceasefire before embarking on more substantive political negotiations.

The points agreed by Moscow and Tbilisi proscribe the use of force, pledge a ceasefire and guarantee access for humanitarian aid. But the political and military aspects of the agreement are problematic and the deal could yet unravel.

At Russian insistence, Georgian forces have to return to bases while Russian "peacekeepers" in the contested northern province of South Ossetia are allowed to stage security patrols "and additional security measures" until an "international mechanism" is agreed.

"That gives the Russians undefined security rights in undefined territory in Georgia. That's an invitation to further problems," the Swedish foreign minister, Carl Bildt, told the Guardian.

The Russians, whose invasion of Georgia at the weekend has shocked the west and which today stirred more detailed talk of specific sanctions against Russia, agreed to "international negotiations on the modalities of security and stability" in South Ossetia and Abkhazia after having initially demanded talks on the status of the two provinces.

Both regions have been beyond the Georgian government's control since the early 90s and the small ethnic wars that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union. President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia launched an abortive and disastrous bid to retake control of South Ossetia last week only to see his country invaded by the Russians and his military crushed.

Prospective western reprisals against Moscow came into clearer focus today, with the Americans calling a special session of Nato foreign ministers which could decide to suspend Russia's formal consultative link with the western alliance while David Milliband, the foreign secretary, suggested Russia could be expelled from the G8 and that the EU could halt negotiations just started on a far-reaching strategic partnership pact between Russia and Europe.

"The Russians have been in breach of international law. There will be consequences of some sort," said Bildt.

But any such moves will trigger resistance in a divided EU. Brussels' attempts to play the key mediating role also limit its scope for taking sides.

"We don't have time now to get into long discussions on blame," said Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German foreign minister.

"We shouldn't make any moral judgments on this war. Stopping the war, that's what we're interested in," said Kouchner. "Don't ask us who's good and who's bad here."

Saakashvili accused the west - the Americans, Nato, and the EU - of disunity on the crisis and of consistently underestimating the Russian threat.

"The response has not been adequate. It looks like appeasement to me. We need real action, not just words."

[Rasputin]

Conflicting reports on the movements of Russian forces leave Georgian villagers angry and scared about the conflict over South Ossetia
Russia is expanding its military presence in Gori, the Georgian government said today, contradicting earlier claims that troops were pulling out of the key town where their presence had threatened the ceasefire over South Ossetia.

Georgia's foreign ministry said the Russians had also entered Poti, a Black Sea port with an oil terminal vital to the country's fragile economy.

Earlier, Georgia's interior ministry said Moscow forces had withdrawn from both. Later, at least five explosions were reported near Gori. It was not clear whether renewed fighting had broken out between Georgian and Russian forces, but there had been a tense stand-off between the two sides earlier in the day.

Elsewhere in Georgia, a camera crew from the Associated Press saw heavily armed Russian soldiers and military vehicles in the western town of Zugdidi. Some of the troops wore blue peacekeeping helmets but others had green camaouflage helmets.

Link to this audio
Luke Harding reports from the outs***ts of Gori
In Moscow, the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, reinforced the Kremlin's determination not to guarantee Georgia's borders. "One can forget about any talk about Georgia's territorial integrity because, I believe, it is impossible to persuade South Ossetia and Abkhazia to agree with the logic that they can be forced back into the Georgian state."

His remarks came as the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, was meeting leaders of the two separatist regions.

As confusion mounted about how Russia was responding to US calls to pull out its troops to end the week-long conflict, a Russian general said his forces would soon start to return control of Gori to Georgia.

Gori lies south of disputed South Ossetia and controls the main east-west road through Georgia. Yesterday, Russia denied it even had troops in the area despite witnesses saying they saw tanks on the streets.

Russia's Major-General Vyacheslav Borisov said: "For another two days troops will stay in the region to … hand over control functions to Georgian law-enforcement bodies, after which they will leave."

Russian news agencies quoted him as saying: "City police will start working officially here and carry out their duties to maintain security."

Russian and Georgian soldiers are reported to have briefly confronted each other at a checkpoint on Gori's outs***ts around midday local time.

Some Georgian police are reported to have said a Russian withdrawal broke down after their South Ossetian allies refused to leave.

Witnesses said yesterday that irregular forces had joined up with the Russian army to loot and burn villages and kill civilians between South Ossetia and Gori. The claims of atrocities have not been verified.

Both sides have signed a ceasefire requiring forces to return to the positions they held before the conflict started last week. But the truce allows Russian forces to take unspecified "security measures".

The Kremlin could try to keep troops in Georgia proper while claiming to be protecting South Ossetia. Russian troops moved into the region six days ago after Georgia began a military operation to retake it from separatist control.

Russia has rejected calls from the United States and Europe to preserve Georgia's territorial integrity. It argues South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another separatist region, were never part of an independent, post-Soviet Georgia.

The US has begun sending humanitarian aid to Georgia, with the first shipment arriving escorted by troops last night. Supplies included cots, blankets and medicine for displaced civilians.

The US president, George Bush, has warned the Kremlin to "keep its word and act to end this crisis". American military planes have begun delivering aid to Georgia, and the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, is heading for Tbilisi after talks today in Paris with the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy.

[Rasputin]

The United States has warned Russia its military operations in Georgia risk seriously damaging relations between Washington and Moscow for years.

Speaking to reporters about the delivery of humanitarian aid to Georgia, Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, said: "If Russia does not step back from its aggressive posture and actions in Georgia, the US-Russian relationship could be adversely affected for years to come."

The US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, has also stepped up pressure on Moscow, issuing another urgent call for Russia to honour the ceasefire with Georgia. She met with the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, this afternoon to discuss the situation and will travel to Tbilisi tomorrow to have the peace agreement signed by the Georgian president.

"We would hope that he would be true to his word," Rice said, of the Russian president, Dmitri Medvedev. "The provisional ceasefire that was agreed to really must go into place. And that means that military activities have to cease."

There are reports of continued fighting in parts of Georgia. Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general, said humanitarian aid groups and UN monitors were struggling to reach civilians caught up in the conflict because of ongoing fighting and lawlessness.

A statement issued by his office said he welcomed the ceasefire agreement between Russia and Georgia "but notes that notwithstanding this agreement, violence continues, with civilians bearing the brunt."

He urged all combatants "to respect and protect civilians in accordance with international humanitarian law and human rights law."

In Washington, Gates launched a stinging attack on Russia for the scale of force used against Georgia, saying Russia's actions were designed to "punish" Georgia for daring to integrate with western organisations, such as Nato, which are outside Russia's influence.

"The Russians were prepared to take advantage of an opportunity and did so very aggressively in a way that went far beyond reasserting the autonomy of Abkhazia and South Ossetia," he said.

He ruled out, however, the use of US military force in Georgia, saying there was "no prospect" of American troops being deployed in the region. Military personnel will only be used in a humanitarian capacity to deliver aid to civilians, Gates said.

The comments from Gates and Rice came as tensions escalated between the US and Russia on the ground in Georgia. The US has accused Russia of sabotaging airfields and other military infrastructure in Georgia, while Russia has expressed concern about the American airlift to the crisis-torn region.

An unnamed US official told the Associated Press there was a deliberate attempt by Moscow to cripple the already battered Georgian military.

Reports from the scene indicated Russian forces were trying to disable Georgia's ability to fight again.

The allegations came as Russia's general staff said it had concerns about the type of cargoes the US was airlifting to Georgia.

Colonel-General Anatoly Nogovitsyn, the Russian army's deputy chief, told a news conference that Russian "peacekeepers" were in the Georgian port of Poti to conduct intelligence operations.

The general staff had previously denied its troops were in Poti, a Black Sea port with an oil terminal vital to the country's fragile economy.

Nogovitsyn said: "We have information that American military transport aviation say they are delivering a certain humanitarian cargo to Tbilisi airport, though they said we had bombed the airport two days ago. Let's ask them will they invite you [the media] to check whether it is humanitarian or not?"

What was really in the cargo, he asked. "It is of major concern to Russians."

He said over the previous 24 hours "we are just watching the situation. There are still snipers out there, certain groups have gotten through, and the provocations are continuing.

"We will settle things with everyone, and right now establishing peace is the main issue."

Reports today suggested Russian troops continued to move in and around Georgian towns despite a tense ceasefire.

Link to this audio
Luke Harding reports from just outside the Georgian town of Gori
Washington insisted it had had no problems with the Russians in getting humanitarian and medical aid into Georgia.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said: "We are not there to defend the ports, we are there to provide humanitarian aid."

The Georgian government said today that Russia had expanded its military presence in Gori, contradicting earlier claims that it was pulling out of the key town where its presence has threatened the ceasefire.

At least five explosions were reportedly heard near Gori and other reports suggested a military supply depot near the town may have been blown up by Russians.

Elsewhere in Georgia, a camera crew from Associated Press Television News saw heavily armed Russian soldiers and military vehicles in the western town of Zugdidi, some of whom were wearing blue peacekeeping helmets but others wore green camouflage helmets.

In Moscow, the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, reinforced the Kremlin's determination not to guarantee Georgia's borders.

"One can forget about any talk about Georgia's territorial integrity because, I believe, it is impossible to persuade South Ossetia and Abkhazia to agree with the logic that they can be forced back into the Georgian state."

His remarks came as the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, was meeting leaders of the two separatist regions.

As confusion mounted about how Russia was responding to US calls to pull out its troops to end the week-long conflict, a Russian general said they would soon start to return control of Gori to Georgia.

Gori lies south of the disputed South Ossetia region on the main east-west road through Georgia.

Russian and Georgian soldiers are reported to have briefly confronted each other at a checkpoint on Gori's outs***ts around midday local time, with Russian tanks hurrying to the scene to force the Russian troops to back off.

Some Georgian police are reported to have said that a Russian withdrawal broke down after their South Ossetian allies refused to leave.

Both sides have signed a ceasefire requiring forces to return to the positions they held before the conflict started last week. But the truce allows Russian forces to take unspecified "security measures".

The Kremlin could try to keep troops in Georgia while claiming to be protecting South Ossetia. Russian troops moved into the region six days ago after Georgia began a military operation to retake it from separatist control.

[Rasputin]

Russian troops and armor deployed around three Georgian towns on Thursday, as international pressure mounted on Moscow over its continuing occupation of parts of Georgia.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was "extremely concerned" about the humanitarian situation in Georgia and called for a halt to lawlessness.

In the key Georgian town of Gori, west of the capital Tbilisi, correspondents saw signs of looting which locals blamed on militias from the neighboring province of South Ossetia, where the conflict erupted a week ago.

Russian armed forces have occupied parts of Georgia since repelling a Georgian attack last week on the tiny pro-Russian separatist territory of South Ossetia, which threw off Tbilisi's control in the 1990s.

Shops had been smashed up in Gori and there were very few parked cars. "They were stealing cars and breaking into shops," Vasily, 72, said. "They spoke Ossetian."

The Russians have pledged to stop looting but men wearing an assortment of camouflaged uniforms stole cars from journalists and from the United Nations on Thursday and a hidden sniper shot at a female Georgian television correspondent, grazing her arm.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said Russia was behind a "deliberate policy of ethnic cleansing".

"I can prove it with the international organizations already bringing testimony to what I'm saying," he said in English at a briefing for foreign media.

[Rasputin]

U.S. President George W. Bush denounced Moscow's actions in Georgia as unacceptable on Friday while Russian troops made their deepest incursion into Georgian territory since the conflict began last week.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said he had signed a ceasefire agreement, negotiated by France on behalf of the European Union, and Russia said it would implement the peace deal.

Late on Friday U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov from her plane after leaving the Georgian capital Tbilisi.

A U.S. official said Lavrov told Rice Russia would faithfully implement the ceasefire agreement. It wants to see Saakashvili's signature on the document first.

On Thursday about 17 armored personnel carriers and about 200 soldiers advanced to a village 45 km (30 miles) from Tbilisi, the deepest drive into Georgian territory since fighting began in Georgia's breakaway region South Ossetia on Thursday.

The vehicles traveled unimpeded by Georgian police and army stationed along the road. A Reuters correspondent saw a military ambulance, snipers and rocket-propelled grenades.

Saakashvili said tanks also advanced on another two towns -- Khashari and Borjomi -- in central Georgia, but that could not be independently verified.

A reason for the presence of Russian armor maneuvering inside Georgia in either case was not immediately clear. Bush said: "The world has watched with alarm as Russia invaded a sovereign neighboring state and threatened a democratic government elected by its people.

"This act is completely unacceptable to the free nations of the world," Bush said in his weekly Saturday radio address, which the White House released on Friday.

The United States earlier demanded Russian troops end their occupation of Georgia immediately after Georgia signed the ceasefire agreement.

Speaking alongside Saakashvili in Tbilisi, Rice evoked the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia 40 years ago: "Russian forces need to leave Georgia at once. This is no longer 1968."

Saakashvili met with Rice for five hours.

Saakashvili, in passionate remarks, denounced Russians as "21st century barbarians" and blamed the West for triggering the crisis by failing to react firmly to Moscow's previous military moves and not admitting Georgia to NATO fast enough.

"Who invited the trouble here?" he said, flanked by several large Georgian and U.S. flags. "Not only those people who perpetrated this, but those who failed to stop it."

The simmering crisis over the rebel Georgian region of South Ossetia exploded when Georgia tried to retake the Russian-backed province, provoking a massive counter-attack by Moscow.

The Kremlin deployed warships, planes, tanks and troops against Georgia in its biggest military operation outside its borders since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union. Its troops continue to occupy part of Georgia, although combat has ceased.

Signs multiplied on Friday of Russia's growing international isolation. Its biggest trading partner Germany condemned it for going too far in Georgia and neighboring Poland sealed a pact with Washington to host part of an anti-missile system.

"FAIRY TALES"

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev showed defiance after meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, along the coast from the conflict zone.

He said Moscow would respond the same way if its peacekeepers were attacked again and questioned whether the rebel regions at the centre of the conflict could ever live again under Georgian rule.

Medvedev also denounced the Polish-U.S. deal as a threat to Russia. "The deployment of new anti-missile forces has as its aim the Russian Federation," he told a news conference alongside Merkel.

"Therefore any fairy tales about deterring other states, fairy tales that with the help of this system, we will deter some sort of rogue states, no longer work."

Russia's deputy chief of the general staff later told Interfax news agency that Poland was laying itself open to a possible military -- including nuclear -- strike

"Poland, in deploying (elements of the system) opens itself to a military strike. That is 100 percent." Col-General Anatoliy Nogovitsyn said.

[Rasputin]

A reluctant Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said Friday he signed a cease-fire agreement with Russia and declared in the presence of the chief U.S. diplomat that the West behaved in ways that invited the invasion.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she had been assured that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will sign an identical document. The United States says the pact protects the former Soviet republic's interests despite concessions to Moscow.

Georgian Ambassador to the U.S. Vasil Sikharulidze was online Friday, Aug. 15, at 3 p.m. ET to discuss the cease-fire agreement.

A transcript follows.

____________________

Washington, D.C.: How do you respond to the charge that Georgia was reckless in attacking South Ossetia, and naive to think the U.S. would come to your aid when Russia counterattacked?

Vasil Sikharulidze: I am pleased to take this question head on: The Russian invasion of my country was a well planned, highly organized military attack that was many months in the making and relied on provocations going back several years.

Since October 2006 Russian attacks against my country include Russian bombings of Georgian villages in Kodori (October 2006 and March 2007), subsequent bombings of a village in South Ossetia in August 2007, and just two months ago a Russian jet fighter shot down a Georgian drone. There were also overflights and reckless bombings of our territory last August.

We anticipated this August that Russia would try another provocation. Shelling of Georgian villages in South Ossetia intensified in the early days of August. It was Georgia that declared a unilateral cease fire and did not respond and we pulled our forces back. It was only when a Russian tank column began to approach our border and the shelling of Georgian villages intensified that the president was forced to act in order to stop the shelling.

Russia never counter attacked---they attacked Georgia.

_______________________

Mexico City, Mexico: Does this cease-fire agreement mean that Georgia will be loosing South Ossetia and Abkhazia?

Vasil Sikharulidze: Absolutely Not..

The agreement is about a cease fire to end the Russian invasion. Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity over South Ossetia and Ahhkazia is protected by the UN Charter and is recognized by the international community including the US, EU and is reaffirmed by several UN Security Council resolutions.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: Why do you believe Russia is attacking your country?

Vasil Sikharulidze: Russia views Georgia as a thread because of our commitment to freedom, democracy and human rights. Our country's destiny is to be integrated with the West and bridge Europe with Central Asia.

The actions of Russian forces to smash our country, target our civilians, and destroy our infrastructure and ability to defend ourselves is an invasion reminiscent of the Soviet invasion of Finland, Hungary, Czechslovakia, and Afghanistan.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: Do you feel this invasion was an example of Russia resuming the Cold War?

Vasil Sikharulidze: Russia is trying to challenge the free world by attacking its small democratic neighbor. A resurgent Russia that is determined to dominate and control part of the world again as well as challenge the new world order of freedom and democracy.

_______________________

San Francisco, Calif.: How far into Georgia are the Russian tanks now? (I mean how far outside the regions in the conflict and into Georgia proper)

Vasil Sikharulidze: The Russians are occupying both Abkhazia, South Ossetia/Tskhinvali region as well as the major cities outside of the conflict zones that include the port of Poti, Gori, Senaki, Zugdidi and have also extended a military presence west and east of Gori. The Russian's are blocking the major east-west highway essentially cutting the country in half.

_______________________

washingtonpost.com: The ambassador has been temporarily called away from the discussion; he will return. In the meantime, his spokesperson will be answering questions.

_______________________

Arlington, Va.: Given that you say "The Russian invasion of my country was a well planned, highly organized military attack that was many months in the making and relied on provocations going back several years."

Do you believe this invasion came as a surprise to the U.S. government? Had your government expressed any concern to ours over this period building up to the invasion?

Vasil Sikharulidze: This level of Russian aggression was not anticipated by any country of the Free World.

We have for many years expressed concern about the military buildup in the conflict zones near our border, in the conflict zones and the continuous provocations towards Georgia.

_______________________

Frederick, Md.: Where has the Georgian army gone? Is there nothing they can do?

Vasil Sikharulidze: Russia has attacked Georgia with overwhelming force by land, sea, air. The Georgian forces were forced to fall back in the face of this overwhelming firepower. It was never Georgia's security strategy to defeat Russia's armed forces given their massive size. The army is now defending the capital city.

It is important to note that Russia has also launched cyber attacks against our country.

_______________________

Arlington, Va.: Do you not think that Russia's interest in Georgia has anything to do with the pipeline running through your country that can get Caspian oil out for sale?

Vasil Sikharulidze: It is evident that the alternative for Caspian energy to reach world markets without using Russian pipelines is through Georgia.

Russia has continuously used its energy resources and infrastructure to impose political pressure on its neighbors, Europe.

The invasion of Georgia is meant to force these countries to depend on Russia for the transit of their natural wealth to Europe--and make Europe more heavily dependent on Russia for their energy needs.

_______________________

Wilmington, N.C. : Has the humanitarian aid publicized by the media, sent by the U.S. made any difference or is it too early to tell and if the Russians have blocked half of the country that means the west side is lacking? Are other countries helping also? Thank you .

Vasil Sikharulidze: We would like to thank the US for its humanitarian assistance. It is important and critical to relieving the suffering of more than 100,000 additional displaced persons.

Assistance continues to arrive to Tblisi via the USAF. This assistance is being distributed to those who need it. Distribution of this humanitarian aid is complicated to the western and central part of Georgia because the roads are blocked by Russian forces.

_______________________

Cumberland, Md.: Why should Abkhazian and S. Ossetians be forced to live under Georgian rule, if they don't want to? The world has looked favorable on granting independence to other ethnic enclaves, why should these two be any different?

Vasil Sikharulidze: Abkahzia and South Ossetia has always been a part of Georgia. This holds true today where UN resolutions reaffirm this fact.

Each conflict is unique. Ethnic cleansing should not be rewarded.

During the war in Abkhazia more than 250,000 ethnic Georgians have been ethnically cleansed and forced out. The current population is roughly 160,000.

During the past several years we have worked hard on a comprehensive peace plan that would give these regions the widest possible political autonomy with full constitutional rights guaranteed by international guarantors.

_______________________

Richmond, Va.: Are you disappointed by the Western and European response to the invasion of Georgia? Do you believe that European security organizations are robust enough to deal with incidents such as this?

I assume the U.N. will be useless due to the Russian veto on the Security Council.

Vasil Sikharulidze: We are pleased to see the high level involvement of the French and US and the provision of humanitarian assistance.

We strongly believe that attacks such as this can be deterred by strong European institutions that can hold behavior like this in check.

_______________________

Arlington, Va.: This is getting confusing. First you say that Russia attacked because

"Russia views Georgia as a thread because of our commitment to freedom, democracy and human rights. Our country's destiny is to be integrated with the West and bridge Europe with Central Asia."

and then you say

"The invasion of Georgia is meant to force these countries to depend on Russia for the transit of their natural wealth to Europe--and make Europe more heavily dependent on Russia for their energy needs."

Which is it? Frankly, I don't think the first answer makes much sense. It's much more likely a resource war, in my opinion.

Vasil Sikharulidze: Its both.

Russia fears the colored revolutions and delivery of energy (and the wealth and freedom it brings) independent of their control and manipulation.

[Rasputin]

Russia's president Dimitry Medvedev yesterday signed a ceasefire agreement to end the bloody 10-day-old war in Georgia, but gave no clear indication of when he would begin to withdraw Russian troops.

In a snub to the United States, which has demanded that Moscow remove its armed forces from Georgia immediately, Medvedev said the Russian military would remain inside Georgia until 'extra security measures' were in place.

Russia's Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, gave no timetable for a pullout. He said Moscow would withdraw once security measures had been carried out in the conflict zone - the breakaway enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Last night, US President George Bush cautiously welcomed Russia's apparent commitment. He described the ceasefire deal, also signed by Georgia's President, Mikheil Saakashvili on Friday, as a 'helpful step'. Bush reaffirmed his commitment to Georgia's battered territorial integrity, saying that the issue was not up for debate.

Britain's Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, also praised the latest move, but said he was 'concerned' by reports of continuing Russian military action.

Russian troops last night appeared to be pulling slowly out of their forward positions. They left the town of Igoeti, about 48km from Tbilisi, in the afternoon. But they remain in at least half of the country - including the central towns of Gori and Khashuri, the western cities of Senaki and Zugdidi, and the Black Sea port of Poti. Reports last night from Georgia's foreign ministry said Russian-backed separatists from Abkhazia had taken over 13 villages in Georgia and a power plant.

Yesterday Georgia claimed Russia was still destroying its civilian and military infrastructure. It said Russian soldiers had blown up a railway line near the town of Kaspi, outside Tbilisi - severing the last railway link between the east and west of the country. Moscow denied this.

Russian military helicopters also attacked Borjomi national park - setting fire to huge areas of protected forest, Georgian officials said. Borjomi, a popular spa town since Tsarist times, is home to endangered species, including bears.

Medvedev signed yesterday's agreement in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi, 20km from the border with Abkhazia, Georgia's second breakaway province. Analysts said that they expected Russia to absorb Abkhazia and South Ossetia into the Russian Federation - possibly within days. Both territories are likely to hold referendums calling for a formal association with Russia.

The six-point ceasefire agreement, which was drafted by France's President Nicolas Sarkozy in his role as EU president, authorises Russia to carry out 'additional security measures on a temporary basis' until an international peacekeeping force arrives in Georgia. This requires a UN resolution.

There are growing claims of atrocities committed by irregular militias, to which the Russian forces are accused of turning a blind eye. The Observer has witnessed half a dozen assaults and robberies of civilians and journalists by mercenaries in the past five days.