FACTBOX: Russian-Georgian relations
(Reuters) - Georgia said on Tuesday that Russian jets bombed its territory in an "act of aggression", but the Russian airforce denied it violated the air space of the former Soviet republic. Here are some facts about relations between Russia and Georgia.
ROSE REVOLUTION: Georgia's uneasy post-Soviet relations become openly hostile after the 2003 "Rose Revolution" which propels President Mikhail Saakashvili to power. Saakashvili pushes for Georgia's prompt entry into the European Union and NATO and pursues close relations with the United States.
BREAKAWAY REGIONS: Moscow and Tbilisi bicker over Georgia's restive breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Saakashvili wants to bring the regions back under Georgian control. The regions, which say they want independence or a merger with Russia, enjoy moral support from Moscow, though it has been careful not to back their independence drive openly.
RUSSIA-UNITED STATES: Moscow considers the United States is encroaching on its traditional influence in Georgia and the Caucasus. Tbilisi has sought closer ties with Washington and says Russia is trying to use its economic and energy might to bully Georgia.
GAS: Georgia is dependent on gas from Russia but this dependence will decline in years to come when a BP-led pipeline from Azerbaijan to Turkey opens.
WINE, WATER: Russia has banned imports of Georgian wine, fruit and even mineral waters such as Borjomi, one of Georgia's biggest revenue earners.
SPIES: Transport and trade links were cut after Georgia paraded Russian military officers on TV who it said were spies, in September 2006. Although some communications since resumed, there are still no direct flights between the capitals.
MILITARY BASES: Russia still has two military bases in Georgia, left over from the Soviet period, but has agreed to pull out its troops by 2008. The continuing Russian military presence in Georgia irks Saakashvili.
GEOGRAPHY - 69,700 square km (26,900 square miles). Georgia, occupying the western part of the Caucasus Mountains, is flanked by Russia to the north, Azerbaijan and Armenia to the east and southwest and Turkey to the south.
HISTORY: Georgia, after facing threats from Muslim neighbors Turkey and Persia, was brought into the Russian Empire in the nineteenth century. Georgia enjoyed a brief period of independence after the Bolshevik revolution but was occupied by Soviet forces in 1921. Georgia declared independence as the Soviet Union crumbled.
