Nato launched military exercises in former Soviet Georgia on Wednesday under a storm of criticism from Russia and following a rebellion in Georgia.
Georgia’s opposition said dozens of supporters had been detained overnight ahead of mass rallies against President Mikheil Saakashvili on Thursday.
International talks resumed on Wednesday in Geneva aimed at getting Russia and Georgia to bury the hatchet following August’s five-day war.
The West’s pillorying of Moscow over the invasion of Georgia has kindled a fierce Russian resentment that poses dangers for security in Europe.
Calls grew louder on Sunday for Russia to face greater international isolation because of its invasion and partition of Georgia
Russia approved on Monday a resolution recognising the independence of two rebel regions of Georgia, a move likely to worsen relations with the West.
Twelve days after they first rolled in, Russian tanks are still in Georgia and show no signs of pulling out.
Russia promised to complete a pull back of troops from Georgia by the end of Friday but said a number of ”peacekeeping forces” would stay.
European leaders warned Russia on Sunday to withdraw its forces rapidly from Georgia or face unspecified consequences.
What began as a skirmish has become a tragedy of global importance.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a peace deal with Georgia on Saturday but his troops pushed even deeper toward the capital, Tbilisi.
The risk of a new era of East-West confrontation triggered by Russia’s invasion of Georgia heightened on Friday.
Russia’s President Dmitri Medvedev promises to guarantee any vote by rebel Georgian states to break with Tbilisi.
Moscow has to take some of the blame. But it is the West’s policy of liberal interventionism that has fuelled war in Georgia.
The Kremlin on Tuesday night dictated humiliating peace terms to Georgia as the price for halting the Russian invasion of the small Black Sea country.
Georgia said on Tuesday that Russian attacks on the country continued as 100 000 people gathered at a rally in central Tbilisi.
The White House said on Tuesday it was looking into Russia’s assertion that it had halted its widely condemned military offensive in Georgia.
Two war-torn towns deep in the Caucasus on Saturday presented mirror images of violence and retaliation.
Russia said on Saturday it was sending reinforcements into South Ossetia, a region of Georgia where Russian forces are supporting separatists.
Russia has sent forces into Georgia to repel a Georgian assault on the breakaway South Ossetia region, with reports of ”hundreds of dead civilians”.
