Diplomacy steps in as Russian troops in Georgia

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By Matt Robinson

TBILISI (Reuters) - Russian troops remain in parts ofGeorgia and reports of looting continue as U.S. Secretary ofState Condoleezza Rice visits Georgia on Friday to secureTbilisi's signature to a French-brokered peace deal withMoscow.

Russia's clashes with U.S. ally and NATO aspirant Georgiastrained further Moscow's ties with Washington, leading U.S.Defense Secretary Robert Gates to warn U.S. relationship withRussia could be "adversely affected for years to come" unlessthe Kremlin rethought its "aggressive posture" in Georgia.

As Rice flies to Tbilisi, German Chancellor Angela Merkelmeets Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Sochi, nearGeorgia's border, to urge Russia to embrace diplomacy in itsshowdown with its small neighbour to avoid a serious rift withthe West.

The flurry of diplomatic activity aimed to restore peace inthe Caucasus -- a key route for exporting Caspian oil to theWest -- takes place as Moscow is under mounting internationalpressure to end its occupation of chunks of Georgian land.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said he would needto "take a closer look" at the peace proposal before signingit.

"We have to see what she (Rice) has to bring," he told CNNlate on Thursday.

Russian troops have occupied parts of Georgia sincerepelling a Georgian attack last week on the tiny separatistterritory of South Ossetia, which threw off Tbilisi's rule inthe 1990s.

Russian soldiers and armour were seen on Thursday moving inor around the key Georgian town of Gori, west of Tbilisi. Therewere numerous signs of looting, which locals blamed on NorthOssetian militias.

Witnesses said Russian tanks had rolled through the BlackSea port of Poti on Thursday morning, accompanying trucks withtroops to the port area. A large column of Russian troops wasseen in the western town of Zugdidi, not far from the secondpro-Moscow separatist region of Abkhazia.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday he was"extremely concerned" about the humanitarian situation inGeorgia and called for a halt to lawlessness.

Saakashvili said Russia was behind a "deliberate policy ofethnic cleansing".

Earlier this week Georgia asked the United Nations' highestcourt, the International Court of Justice, to issue an urgentorder to Russia to halt what it describes as human rightsviolations on ethnic Georgians.

TROOPS PULL-OUT, INTEGRITY

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the architect of athree-day old ceasefire, said Saakashvili's signature to thesix-point peace deal would "consolidate" the halt to fightingand lead to the withdrawal of Russian troops.

But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said: "We canforget about talks on Georgia's territorial integrity becauseit's impossible to force South Ossetia and Abkhazia to agreethat they can be returned into Georgia's fold by force".

Mentioning Georgia's territorial integrity in any documentsettling the conflict would be seen by people as "the deepestinsult", he added in a radio interview.

Russia has said the case of Kosovo, a breakaway province ofSerbia whose self-proclaimed independence was promptlyrecognised by major Western powers, creates a legal precedentfor Georgia's separatist South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

"Georgia is a member of the United Nations, as such it hasinternationally recognized borders, therefore the territorialintegrity of Georgia within those borders is not an issue,"White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said in comments toLavrov's remarks.

"Georgia's borders have been reaffirmed by numerousSecurity Council resolutions," she said. "So the question ofAbkhazia and South Ossetia will be the subject of internationalnegotiations as they have been at the U.N. Security Council,"Perino said.

"The resolution of Kosovo's status is covered by a U.N.Security Council resolution and that resolution envisions aninternational process," she said. "So the two cases are totallydifferent.

In a move likely to sour further Russia's ties with theU.S., Poland finally agreed on Thursday to host elements ofU.S. global anti-missile system on its land after Washingtonimproved the terms of the deal amid the Georgia crisis.

Russia views the planned U.S. anti-missile shield inEastern Europe as a threat to its national security.

(Additional reporting by Washington bureau; Writing byDmitry Solovyov; Editing by Matthew Jones)