Cheney slams "unjustified assault" on Georgia

By Tim Gaynor

PHOENIX (Reuters) - Vice President Dick Cheney on Wednesday called Russia's actions in Georgia an "unjustified assault" and pledged to ensure the small U.S. ally's territorial integrity.

"We will work with our allies to ensure Georgia's territorial integrity as a free and independent nation," Cheney told a meeting of armed forces veterans in Phoenix ahead of his trip to the Georgian capital Tbilisi next week.

He made the remarks after Russia recognized two rebel regions of Georgia as independent states on Tuesday, driving up tension in the volatile Caucasus and worsening already strained relations between Moscow and the West.

President George W. Bush has condemned Moscow's recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as an action that "only exacerbates tensions and complicates diplomatic negotiations."

White House spokesman Tony Fratto said the United States, Europe and their allies will make the case to Russia that its decision was "very shortsighted."

He told reporters traveling with Bush to Washington from Texas that Russia knows where the United States stands. "I think Russia has gotten the message," Fratto said.

Bush, who spoke with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili on Tuesday night, will receive an update on the conflict from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday evening, Fratto said.

"The Georgian people won their freedom after years of tyranny and they can count on the friendship of the United States," Cheney said. "That young democracy has been subjected to an unjustified assault."

The conflict in Georgia erupted when Tbilisi sent troops this month into the breakaway pro-Moscow province of South Ossetia, which threw off Georgian rule in the 1990s. Russia responded with a huge counter-attack that overwhelmed Georgian forces.

Russian troops entered South Ossetia and a second separatist area, Abkhazia, and then moved into Georgia proper, drawing heavy criticism from the West that Moscow had gone too far.

Despite signing a French-brokered cease-fire calling for withdrawal of its forces, Russian troops and tanks continue to occupy parts of Georgia included in buffer zones set up around South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Moscow has ignored calls from U.S. and European leaders to pull its troops out of those areas, and the Kremlin's decision to recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent has heightened tension.

The United States is examining what options it has to try and punish Moscow. Washington canceled a military exercise with Russia, and has warned that Moscow was risking its membership in global clubs like the WTO and Group of Eight nations.

U.S. officials said they were considering whether to withdraw a civilian nuclear cooperation pact with the Kremlin.

In Congress, the House of Representatives committee on foreign affairs will meet next month to hear from Bush administration officials about the conflict and ties with Russia, aides said.

(Additional reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky and Richard Cowan, Editing by Sandra Maler and Frances Kerry)