Russia renews push into Georgia

OUTSIDE GORI, Georgia — The same day that Russia agreed to stop its offensive and pull its troops out of Georgian territory, Russian forces took over the front-line city of Gori on Wednesday, seized munitions at Georgian military bases and set up positions along the country's main east-west highway. Paramilitary fighters accompanying the troops looted homes and stole cars, witnesses said.

The actions far inside undisputed Georgian territory underlined the uncertainties of efforts to end the war and drew a sharp rebuke from President Bush.

"Russia must keep its word and act to end this crisis," he said at the White House, announcing that U.S. military planes and ships would begin ferrying humanitarian aid into the beleaguered country. It was his strongest warning yet of potential retaliation against Russia over the conflict.

The first U.S. relief aircraft, a C-17 transporter carrying medical supplies and materials, arrived in Tbilisi, Georgia's capital, on Wednesday; a second is due today.

Russia denied many claims of violations of the cease-fire pledge. But Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov acknowledged Russian soldiers were outside Gori and in Senaki, the site of another Georgian military base. "We have never concealed this," he said. "They are there to neutralize a huge arsenal of arms and military hardware which they found there totally abandoned." He promised reports of looting would be investigated.

Early today, an Associated Press reporter saw dozens of Russian trucks and armored vehicles leaving Gori, some 20 miles south of the separatist region of South Ossetia and home of a key highway that divides Georgia in two, and moving deeper into Georgia.

Georgia's Interior Ministry said that Russian troops had begun pulling out of Gori. Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said that Russian troops had also left Poti, a Black Sea port city with an oil terminal that is a key piece of Georgia's fragile economic health.

Georgian officials said the Russians had looted and bombed Gori before they left. Moscow denied the accusation, but it appeared to be on a technicality: A BBC reporter in Gori said Russian tanks were in the streets while their South Ossetian allies seized cars, looted homes and set houses on fire.

In Washington, a senior Pentagon official said the U.S. relief effort was intended "to show to Russia that we can come to the aid of a European ally, and that we can do it at will, whenever and wherever we want."

At a minimum, U.S. forces in Georgia will test Russia's pledge to allow relief supplies into the country.

"We expect Russia to ensure that all lines of communication and transport, including seaports, airports, roads and airspace, remain open for the delivery of humanitarian assistance and for civilian transit," Bush said. "We expect Russia to meet its commitment to cease all military activities in Georgia, and we expect all Russian forces that entered Georgia in recent days to withdraw from that country."

In Georgia, President Mikhail Saakashvili, who has criticized what he called a failure of the West to support his country, declared the relief operation a "turning point" in the conflict that began last Thursday.

Saakashvili interpreted the aid operation as a decision to defend Georgia's ports and airports, though Bush administration and Pentagon officials quickly made it clear that would not be the case.

Thousands flee attacks

In foreign capitals, international civilian aid agencies mobilized to assist tens of thousands of people displaced by the attacks on both sides in the conflict.

In Brussels, European foreign ministers met to try to build momentum behind the peace plan that French President Nicolas Sarkozy secured. It calls for a cease-fire and the withdrawal of Russian and Georgian forces to the positions they held before the conflict that began last week.

However, only hours after the accord was reached, Russian tanks and troops, accompanied by paramilitary fighters from South Ossetia, moved into Gori.

Rice going to Georgia

After two days of frenetic discussions, Bush spoke in the Rose Garden of the White House on Wednesday, flanked by his secretaries of state and defense, Condoleezza Rice and Robert Gates. Bush announced Rice would fly to France to support its mediation efforts and then to Georgia "to continue our efforts to rally the free world in the defense of a free Georgia."

Bush's remarks, like the military operation he ordered, reflected a growing apprehension within the White House over Russia's offensive, as well as mounting frustration that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin of Russia, whom Bush often calls a friend, was unmoved by appeals for moderation.

So far, Washington has not directly threatened Moscow with consequences for its actions. Observers say that among the options could be its ouster from the Group of Eight industrialized nations or denial of its bid for membership in the World Trade Organization, both regarded by the Kremlin as important to its standing in the international community.

Compiled from Washington Post, New York Times and Chicago Tribune reports.