Rice: Russia should defuse tension in Georgia

Rice was in Tbilisi in a show of support for Georgia, an ex-Soviet state which wants to join NATO and is at the centre of a tussle for influence between the United States and Russia in the strategic south Caucasus.

Georgia's pro-Western government is locked in a confrontation with former imperial master Russia over South Ossetia and Abkhazia, two breakaway regions backed by Moscow and where Russian troops are deployed.

Russia accuses Georgia of fuelling tension in the region and says its role -- which has included sending in extra troops this year -- has been to defend local people from Georgian aggression.

"It (Russia) needs to be a part of resolving the problem and solving the problem and not contributing to it," Rice said. "I have said it to the Russians publicly. I have said it privately."

"The violence needs to stop and whoever is perpetrating it, and I have mentioned this to the president, there should not be violence," she told a joint news conference with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.

SPIRAL OF VIOLENCE
A day before Rice arrived in Tbilisi, Georgia alleged Russian fighter jets had trespassed into its airspace in an attempt to thwart her visit. Russia did not comment on the Georgian allegation.

In the worst violence in months, a bomb in a cafe in Abkhazia killed four people on Sunday and separatists in South Ossetia said two people were killed last week in a heavy exchange of fire with Georgian forces.

Russia said there was strong evidence Georgia's government was behind the violence, though Tbilisi denied that.

The conflicts over the breakaway regions could hinder Georgia's progress towards NATO membership, and they sow instability in a country the West views as a vital transit route for oil and gas exports from the Caspian Sea.

Rice and Saakashvili spoke to reporters in a plaza in front of the still-unfinished new presidential residence. A huge tarpaulin depicting how the building would look when finished was draped over the site.

Saakashvili said Russian fighter jets had come close to the Georgian capital late on Tuesday. "Maybe they wanted to salute Secretary Rice. I don't know ... This is a very worrisome development."

Russia this year established semi-official ties with the separatists and boosted it peacekeeping contingents, steps Tbilisi said were an illegal annexation of its territory.

Saakashvili said Russia's behaviour was a reaction to NATO expansion and an increasing U.S. presence in the region.

"Looks like some people did not notice that the Cold War is over," he said. "The main point is that Russia ...no longer acknowledges the jurisdiction of Georgia towards an essential part of its territory."

South Ossetia and Abkhazia broke away from Tbilisi's rule after wars in the 1990s. Russia says Tbilisi wants to use force to re-establish its control.

Rice also reaffirmed Washington's support for Georgia' bid to join NATO, an ambition that has angered Russia. Alliance members will decide in December whether to give Georgia a formal timetable for accession.

Photo: AA