16 August :US President George W Bush, fresh from declaring Russia’s offensive in Georgia "completely unacceptable," was to map out a response on Saturday in talks with his top national security aides.
Bush was to hear US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s report on her mission to the battered former Soviet republic and to France, which brokered a ceasefire, in talks on his Texas ranch near the tiny town of Crawford.
The President and Rice, joined by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates and White House National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley by secure videoconference, were to take stock of the nearly two-week old crisis.
Bush, who denounced Russia’s actions in two separate statements on Friday, was to make public remarks after the meeting, which US Vice President Dick Cheney was expected to join from his home in Wyoming, aides said.
In a display of his administration’s determination to protect Georgia’s sovereignty, he announced that Rice will travel next week to Brussels, where she will meet with the foreign ministers of NATO allies and EU officials in an effort to shore up support for embattled Georgia.
"The world has watched with alarm as Russia invaded a sovereign neighbouring state and threatened a democratic government elected by its people. This act is completely unacceptable to the free nations of the world," Bush said in his weekly radio address, which runs on Saturday but was released on Friday.
"And it is essential that America and other free nations ensure that an embattled democracy seeking to stand with us remains sovereign, secure, and undivided," he told any Americans doubtful of Georgia’s importance.Courtsey DDINEWS