Relations deteriorate as US accuses Russia of bullying

America accused Russia of bullying its embattled neighbour Georgia today as a working peace deal for the region still seemed far away.

President George Bush said Russia's behaviour belonged to the Cold War era and said it was using intimidation to get its way.

In his strongest declaration of support for Georgia Mr Bush declared that America would stand by the Georgian people and its territorial integrity must be respected after last week's eruption of violence.

"We will not cast them aside," he said in Washington.

But Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, speaking at virtually the same time, said the separatist Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia at the centre of the conflict appear destined for independence.

"After what happened, it's unlikely Ossetians and Abkhazians will ever be able to live together with Georgia in one state," he said in a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Meanwhile US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Georgia to watch President Mikhail Saakashvili to sign a cease-fire deal.

After he agreed to the deal she called for Russia to remove all its troops from Georgia.

"This is not an agreement about the future of Abkhazia and the future of South Ossetia," Ms Rice said. "This is about getting Russian troops out."

In Georgia Russian troops allowed some humanitarian supplies into the strategic city of Gori but continued their blockade, raising doubts about Russian intentions.

Gori, about 45 miles west of the Georgian capital Tbilisi, is key to when - or if - Russia will honour the terms of a cease-fire that calls for both sides to pull their forces back to the positions they held before fighting broke out last week in the separatist region of South Ossetia.

Russian forces also were in several other cities deep in Georgia, officials said.

By holding Gori Russian forces effectively cut the country in half because the city sits across Georgia's only significant east-west road. Russian military vehicles were blocking the eastern road into the city today although they allowed in one Georgia bus filled with loaves of bread.

"It's quiet there, but now there are problems with food," said Alexander Lomaia, the head of Georgia's national security council.

On the outskirts of Tbilisi Georgia stepped up aid efforts at a camp for refugees.

Frustrations were mounting in the capital over confusion about the cease-fire deal

In a report today Human Rights Watch said it had evidence that Russian planes used cluster bombs against civilian areas in Georgia.

The group said aircraft killed at least 11 civilians and injured dozens in Gori and the village of Ruisi.

Yesterday Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Georgia could "forget about" getting back South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Georgian officials accused Russia of sending a column of tanks and other armoured vehicles toward Kutaisi, the second-largest city in Georgia, then said the convoy stopped about 35 miles out.

"We have no idea what they're doing there, why the movement, where they're going," Georgian Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze said. "One explanation could be they are trying to rattle the civilian population."