

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.



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 outskirts 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.