(AFP) – Aug 14, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — US Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday ruled out US military force in Georgia but warned Russia of long-term damage to its relations with Washington if it does not pull back its forces.

Russia's behavior in Georgia, battered in a Russian offensive beginning Friday, had "profound implications for our security relationship going forward, not only bilaterally but with NATO," Gates said.

"If Russia does not step back from its aggressive posture and actions in Georgia, the US-Russian relationship could be adversely affected for years to come," he said at a Pentagon news conference.

In Moscow, General Anatoly Nogovitsyn, the deputy chief of the Russian General Staff, voiced suspicions that a US humanitarian airlift was bringing in more than just relief supplies.

But Gates made clear that the United States has no intention of being drawn into the conflict militarily.

"I don't see any prospect for the use of military force by the United States in this situation," Gates said, noting signs that Russian forces appeared to be making preparations for a pull back.

"The United States spent 45 years working very hard to avoid a military confrontation with Russia. I see no reason to change that approach today," he said.

However, the world would look at Russia "through a different set of lenses" in the wake of its actions in Georgia, Gates said.

"The days and months to come will determine the future course of US-Russian relations," he told a Pentagon news conference.

"But, by the same token, my personal view is that there needs to be some consequences for the actions that Russia has taken against a sovereign state."

Two military exercises with the Russians have been cancelled, and the gamut of US military relations with Russia are under review, he said.

Following the US move, Canada also withdrew from one of the joint exercises involving Russia and NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command.

Gates said the first objective was to get the Russian forces out of Georgia proper and back into the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and then work out a longer-term peacekeeping arrangement in those areas.

He said it was unlikely the United States would offer peacekeeping troops, but it could provide logistics and other support. The presence of Russian troops as peacekeepers was a matter for negotiations, he said.

General James Cartwright, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the Russian forces appeared to be moving out of cities and consolidating for a move back into the separatist enclaves.

"We see that going on particularly in the areas around the seaports, and around Tbilisi, and up north of Tbilisi, and west towards Gori," he said.

Air activity has virtually ceased, he said.

"And so we see them generally complying and moving back into a position where they can start to make their exit in an orderly fashion," he said.

Cartwright added, however, that the United States also wanted to see the Russian forces shrink in size to pre-conflict levels.

A US military assessment team was in the country to determine conditions for a major humanitarian relief operation.

Cartwright said his instructions to the team were: "Make sure that the airports are available to us, the roads are available to us, and the seaports available to us."

So far, two C-17 military transport planes have flown in medical supplies, shelter and bedding. But Cartwright said plans also called for sending two US hospital ships, and a field hospital.

Longer term, the United States will turn its attention to providing Georgia economic aid, and assistance to its war-battered military, Gates said.

Gates's appearance was his first in public since the hostilities began with a Georgian incursion into South Ossetia August 7 and quickly escalated into an all-out attack by Russia into Georgia proper.

Gates said it appeared the Russians seized an opportunity to punish Georgia, not just for its actions in the enclaves but for its pro-US policies.

"I think that the Russians' further message was to all of the parts of the former Soviet Union, as a signal about trying to integrate with the West and move outside of the longtime Russian sphere of influence," he said.

Gates suggested that the United States was slow to respond in part because Russian leaders assured them their troops would not enter Georgia.

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