Russian invasion 'completely unacceptable', says Bush

US President George Bush is today due to discuss the Georgia crisis when he meets US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice.

Rice is just back from a diplomatic mission to France and embattled region. Defence Secretary Robert Gates and other top national security officials are joining the discussion at the president’s ranch in Taxas via video conference.

Rice was with President Saakashvili yesterday in Tbilisi when he signed the ceasefire truce.

“The world has watched with alarm as Russia invaded a sovereign neighbouring state and threatened a democratic government elected by its people,” Bush said in his radio address broadcast today, which was released last night.

“This act is completely unacceptable to the free nations of the world.”

“Russia’s actions in Georgia raise serious questions about its role and its intentions in the Europe of the 21st Century,” Bush added.

“In recent years, Russia has sought to integrate into the diplomatic, political, economic, and security structures of the West. The US has supported those efforts. Now Russia has put its aspirations at risk by taking actions in Georgia that are inconsistent with the principles of those institutions.

“To begin to repair the damage to its relations with the US, Europe, and other nations, and to begin restoring its place in the world, Russia must act to end this crisis.”

Rice’s time with Bush at his ranch is an interlude to the flurry of diplomacy she has waged since the stand off between Russia and Georgia began. Next week, she travels to Brussels, where she will meet with the foreign ministers of Nato allies and European Union officials to rally the free world in defence of a free Georgia.

The crisis has chilled relations between the US and Russia. It comes as the US is sealing the deal on a missile shield in Europe – an issue that already was unravelling ties between the two former Cold War foes.

Poland and the US on Thursday signed a deal for Poland to accept a missile interceptor base as part of a system the US says is aimed at blocking attacks by rogue nations such as Iran.

Moscow feels it is aimed at Russia’s missile force. Undeterred in its opposition, Russian General Anatoly Nogovitsyn said that by accepting a US missile defence battery Poland was “exposing itself to a strike”.