Condoleezza Rice in Georgia for peace talks

Tbilisi: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday that a proposed ceasefire she wants Georgia to sign with Russia protects Georgia's interests despite concessions to Moscow.

US President George W. Bush accused Russia of "bullying and intimidation" against the former Soviet republic and said the people of Georgia chose freedom and "we will not cast them aside".

Bush, preparing to travel to his Texas ranch, made the statement at the White House.

He said he will keep in close touch with both Rice and US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as they try to end the showdown between Moscow and Tbilisi over two separatist provinces.

"Bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways to conduct foreign policy in the 21st century," Bush said.

He reiterated Gates' assertion of Thursday that Moscow's behaviour in Georgia has damaged its relationship with Washington and its Western allies.

Rice, on her way to Tbilisi with the ceasefire document, said the immediate goal was to get Russian combat forces out of Georgia and more difficult questions about the status of the country's separatist regions and Russia's presence there can be addressed later. "The United States would never ask Georgia to sign onto something where its interests were not protected," she told reporters aboard her plane as she flew to the Georgian capital from France, where she met French President Nicolas Sarkozy who brokered the ceasefire.

"This is not an agreement about the future of Abkhazia and the future of South Ossetia," Rice said, referring to the two flashpoint areas. "This is about getting Russian troops out."

Rice will be consulting with pro-Western Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili about details of the cease-fire, which will require Russia to withdraw its combat forces from Georgia but allows Russian peacekeepers to remain in South Ossetia and conduct limited patrols outside the region.

The draft document also does not commit Russia to respecting Georgia's "territorial integrity", but rather refers to Georgian "independence" and "sovereignty", meaning Moscow does not necessarily accept that South Ossetia and Abkhazia, are Georgian.