EU, U.S. back Georgian call for truce in S.Ossetia

By Matt Robinson

TIRDZNISI, Georgia (Reuters) - Russia accused Georgia on Saturday of seeking bloody adventures by trying to retake its breakaway region of South Ossetia and defended its own military campaign to stop it.

Pro-western Georgia earlier called for a ceasefire after Moscow's bombers widened an offensive to force Tbilisi's troops back out of the region in the Caucasus mountains.

"Russia's actions in South Ossetia are totally legitimate," Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said, visiting an adjacent region of Russia to which thousands of refugees have fled.

U.S. President George W. Bush urged Moscow to stop bombing immediately, saying it marked a dangerous escalation.

Russian officials said the death toll in fighting that began on Thursday stood at 2,000. Georgian officials said that on their side, 129 people had been killed and 748 injured.

Russia said it had seized the rebel capital Tskhinvali but Georgia denied this. The Moscow-backed rebels contradicted each other, one leader saying Georgians had been beaten back, but another that "The city has been lost. We have been betrayed."

Russian state TV reported a five-hour battle outside Tskhinvali but said the outcome was uncertain.

Current European Union president France urged Russia to accept Georgia's truce offer.

"It (the EU presidency) demands an immediate ceasefire. It welcomes the offer of the ceasefire from Georgia and expects from Russia that it will immediately accept such a ceasefire."

A senior U.S. official echoed that call, saying Russia had used disproportionate force in the conflict.

Britain said an EU-U.S. delegation would head to Georgia to try to broker a truce. The fighting threatens oil and gas pipelines seen as crucial in the West in a volatile region where instability could well spread.

Georgia said Russian planes had targeted a vital pipeline that carries oil to the West from Asia via neighboring Turkey but had missed.

Russia's military action dramatically intensified its long-running stand-off with Georgia that has sparked alarm in the West and led to angry exchanges reminiscent of the Cold War.

NATO ASPIRATIONS RANKLE

Putin said Georgia's bid to join the Western alliance NATO -- anathema to Moscow -- was part of the problem.