U.S. and EU urge Russia to back off Georgia

By David Brunnstrom

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Georgia held emergency talks with NATO and European Union allies on Friday, urging them to stand firm in pressing Russia to drop plans for closer ties with two rebel regions in the former Soviet republic.

Moscow announced on Wednesday it would establish legal links with Georgia's breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions, which border Russia. Georgia calls it a move towards annexation and NATO immediately urged Russia to reverse the decision.

On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice telephoned Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to express concern.

"We are very concerned at the steps that have been taken and we have made our views known to the Russian government," Rice told reporters at the State Department.

Georgian Deputy Prime Minister Georgy Baramidze raised concerns with NATO Deputy Secretary-General Claudio Bisogniero and was to meet ambassadors from several NATO allies and EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

Baramidze called the Russian step "very, very dangerous" and a threat not just to Georgia, but to all Europe and NATO.

"The Russians have crossed the red line and Europe and the Euro-Atlantic community must react ... to prove they are willing to protect young democracies," he told a news conference.

"We want our friends ... to persuade Russia to reverse this decision. We believe a united Europe and a united Euro-Atlantic community will be heard in the Kremlin," Barmidze said.

"We will not allow Europe to be divided by the spheres of influence, we will never ever allow the 1930s to be repeated," he said in an apparent reference to Europe's failure to stop Nazi Germany's expansionist course before World War Two.

PUTIN EASES SANCTIONS

Despite the moves on the breakaway republics, on Friday Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered restoration of postal links with Georgia and a lifting of visa restrictions. Putin also ordered his government to consult Georgia on allowing food products back on to the Russian market.

Moscow cut rail, aviation and postal links with Georgia after Georgia arrested four Russian servicemen on spying charges in late 2006. It also imposed restrictions on issuing entry visas to hundreds of thousands of Georgians who work in Russia.

Last month Russia resumed passenger flights to Georgia and said it was reopening shipping links.

"Russia is trying to create the illusion that it is determined to cooperate with Georgia," Georgian Foreign Minister David Bakradze told journalists in Tbilisi. "We're confident this move...will not mislead our American and European friends."

"If Russia believes it can annex one third of Georgia's territory and at the same time normalize ties with the remaining two thirds, then it is making a big mistake."