CRAWFORD, Texas (AFP) — US Vice President Dick Cheney will visit Georgia next week in a show of support for the war-battered US ally amid a deepening freeze in Russian ties with the West, the White House said Monday.
Cheney will become the most senior US official to visit the former Soviet republic since Russian tanks rolled into its smaller neighbor when Tbilisi tried to retake the Moscow-backed rebel region of South Ossetia by force.
The vice president, who warned early in the crisis that "Russian aggression must not go unanswered," will also visit Azebaijan, Ukraine and attend an economic forum in Italy, the White House said.
Cheney "will be delivering the word of America's support and also consulting on how these leaders in the region see the future playing out," spokesman Tony Fratto said as US President George W. Bush spent time on his Texas ranch.
The vice president's trip was planned before the conflict erupted in early August, prompting the addition of Ukraine to his itinerary and raising the stakes for his latest high-profile diplomatic foray, said Fratto.
Fratto also sternly warned Moscow that it could not by itself decide the fate of South Ossetia or another breakaway region, Abkhazia, after Russia's parliament endorsed their independence from Georgia.
"The status of those two regions in Georgia are not a matter for any one country to decide. They're a matter for the international community, through the mechanisms at the United Nations," he said.
For now, "the two regions are part of Georgia," he added.
Fratto brushed aside any claims that Moscow had not suffered for what Washington has repeatedly called its "disproportionate" offensive in Georgia, saying in an echo of Cheney's words that the move had been "loudly answered."
"I know a lot of people have asked the question as to, what is the cost to Russia? There's been costs in terms of their reputation. There's costs in terms of the ability and willingness to do business in Russia, for example," he said.
"We're reviewing our entire relationship with Russia," said Fratto, who charged "there's no question that Russia remains in violation' of a ceasefire pact brokered by France, which holds the rotating EU presidency.
Russia withdrew tanks, artillery and hundreds of troops from their most advanced positions in Georgia on Friday, saying it had fulfilled all obligations under the agreement.
But as of late Sunday Russian troops still controlled access to the key port of Poti and had established other checkpoints around South Ossetia.
The conflict has sent Russia's ties with the United States, the European Union, and NATO into a deep chill, amid talk of a new Cold War, a lasting break in relations that had warmed since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.
The crisis has sparked fears of instability in the Caucasus, where Tbilisi's press for NATO membership and Ukraine's support of Georgia have riled Moscow.
NATO has warned that its ties with Russia hinge on Moscow's compliance with the Sarkozy-brokered ceasefire pact, while Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said he was prepared for "a complete break in relations" with the alliance.
Cheney will meet with Saakashvili, President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, Georgia's neighbor to the southeast, President Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine, and Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and President Giorgio Napolitano.
The United States and European leaders said the two rebel regions are now part of Georgia, and Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has warned of "disastrous results" if the Kremlin redraws the post-Soviet map.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has announced a special European summit on the Georgia crisis on September 1.
And Russia announced Monday it would to break off some trade agreements reached during negotiations to join the World Trade Organization (WTO).
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