TBILISI (AFP) — Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Tuesday accused Russia of "not living up to its word" on previous commitments to withdraw its troops from Georgia.
"Every day that goes by beyond the deadline of noon yesterday (Monday) is a day that we see Russia not living up to its word," he said at a news conference after talks with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.
"This is not just serious for Georgia but for the reputation of Russia in the world," he added.
Miliband's visit to Tbilisi made him the fourth major figure within a week to visit Georgia for talks with Saakashvili, who has pleaded for the support of the "free world" in his country's conflict with Russia.
He had previously received the backing of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Saakashvili had begun the news conference with his now customary tirade against Russia, who he accused of seeking to topple his government and take away Georgia's independence.
Miliband complained that the latest pledge by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that all but 500 Russian troops would be pulled out of Georgia on Thursday and Friday was the third such commitment made by Russia.
"The deadline was 12 noon yesterday," he said when asked about the maximum amount of time Russia could take to withdraw its troops. Russia had promised that the pullback would start Monday.
He said that Medvedev "can see very clearly the consequences" of failing to pull out the Russian troops, without specifying further.
"There is incomprehension at the failure of Russia to live up to its commitments," said Miliband.
He said that Russia's behaviour in the conflict had violated the principles of the rule of law and territorial integrity "on several counts".
The top British diplomat had flown into Tbilisi directly from a crisis meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels that had been called to condemn the continued presence of Russian troops deep inside Georgia.
NATO said it was impossible to continue "business as usual" with Russia until it honoured its promise to withdraw its troops from Georgia.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described the declaration by the Western military alliance as "unobjective and biased."
But in an indication of the bitterness between the two sides, Miliband sniped that Russia's angry reaction to the NATO meeting could have been scripted in advance.
"I think they would say that anyway. I think that they wrote that before the declaration came out."
Miliband's visit made him the first top British official to visit Georgia since the conflict began on August 7.
Eyebrows had been raised in London that the leader of the opposition conservative party David Cameron had visited Georgia last week before any government minister.
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