BRUSSELS (AFP) — US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Brussels Monday for crisis talks with NATO allies on the situation in Georgia and the alliance's dealings with Russia.
The NATO foreign ministers are meeting Tuesday, at Washington's request, to seek a common position on the Georgia situation and reaffirm their solidarity with Tbilisi.
Rice will also meet EU leaders including French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Fererro-Waldner.
And she is to hold bilateral talks with Georgian Foreign Minister Eka Tkeshelashvili on the sidelines of the NATO meeting.
Rice castigated Moscow Sunday for the eruption of violence in the Caucasus this month, saying it was now paying the price for its display of "disproportionate force against a small neighbour."
She will continue on to Warsaw later Tuesday where she will sign a deal on installing a missile defense shield pact with Poland, a move sure to further inflame tensions with Russia.
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