Brown puts pressure on Russians

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has joined calls for the immediate withdrawal of Russian forces from Georgia.

Brown spoke by telephone to President Mikhail Saakashvili following the Georgian leader's meeting in Tbilisi with US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice.

"The Prime Minister described Russia's incursion into Georgia as a completely unjustified violation of Georgia's territorial integrity. Russian forces must withdraw immediately," Mr Brown's spokesman said.

Mr Brown, who also spoke to French president Nicolas Sarkozy who brokered a ceasefire deal between the two sides, welcomed Mr Saakashvili's commitment to implement the agreement without delay.

The spokesman said that he underlined the UK's support for a peace process, and expressed the UK's willingness to contribute to the proposed monitoring mission by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

Mr Brown's intervention followed an announcement that Tory leader David Cameron will fly to Georgia on Saturday in a show of support for the beleaguered Caucasus republic.

A spokeswoman for the Conservative leader said that he would be holding talks with political leaders in the capital, Tbilisi.

Since the Russian military incursion, Mr Cameron has been calling for Nato to speed up Georgia's application for membership of the alliance in a bid to deter further attacks.

He has also been pressing the Government to take a tough line with Moscow, calling for Russia to be expelled from the G8 and for tough new visa restrictions on Russian nationals travelling to the UK.