US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice attacked Russia for adding to tension in Georgia as she landed in Prague on Tuesday at the start of a three-country European tour.
"We have said both Georgia and Russia need to avoid provocative behaviour but frankly some of the things the Russians did over the last couple of months added to tension in the region," Rice said.
"Georgia is an independent state. It has to be treated like one," she added. Latent tensions between Tbilisi and Moscow over the separatist regions of both Abkhazia and South Ossetia have flared up over the last week.
"I want to make very clear that the US commitment to Georgia's territorial integrity is strong," the Secretary of State said.
Contacts with the 'friends of Georgia,' which includes Russia, had taken place to seek a deescalation of tensions around Abkhazia in particular, Rice added.
Despite highlighting tensions with Russia over Georgia she said "there has been significant cooperation" with Russia in other areas.
Rice is in Prague to sign an agreement over sitting a US missile defence radar, opposed by Moscow, in the former Soviet-bloc country. She is also due to visit Bulgaria and Georgia in the next few days.
Poland, where the US wants to install missile interceptors, would not be included in her tour, she said.Washington and Warsaw have so far been unable to seal a deal on it hosting part of the missile shield. "There are remaining issues but the United States has made a very generous offer" to the Poles who want to improve their air defences, Rice said.
"It's a matter for others to go back and take a look at some of the issues that are there," she said of recent Polish and US talks. "I believe strongly that we are at a place where these negotiations need to come to a conclusion.
"I don't think it really makes sense for me to go to Poland because we have had the meeting in Washington and now we're going to have to see if we can close the remaining gaps," she added.
Concerning Russia's anxiety about the anti-missile system in what used to be its backyard, Rice said: "We want the system to be transparent to the Russians."The US has in the past said suggested that Russian inspectors could visit the anti-missile sites as long as Prague and Warsaw agreed.
Prague has objected to a permanent Russian presence for monitoring the radar's operations, which is what Moscow is seeking.
U.S. Calls for International Police Force in Abkhazia
The U.S. Department of State said on July 7 there was "an urgent need" for an international police presence in breakaway Abkhazia.
In a statement the Department of State condemned recent explosions in the breakaway region with the latest in Gali district, which killed four people."We note the urgent need for an international police presence in the areas where these bombings have occurred," it said.
The Georgian government reiterated in a statement also on July 7 that it wanted a joint Georgian-Abkhaz joint police force in Gali and Ochamchire under international supervision.
Sokhumi and Moscow, however, are strongly against any change in the current Russian-led peacekeeping operation in the region.
The U.S. Department of State also called on Russia "to reverse its recent provocative steps in Abkhazia and consult Tbilisi on any future steps in both Abkhazia and South Ossetia."
Tbilisi wants Russia to revoke its April 16 decision on establishing official links with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as well as to withdraw additional troops brought in Abkhazia as part of the peacekeeping forces.
"We urge the Georgian Government and Abkhaz de facto authorities to build on efforts of the UN Friends group and resume direct talks to elaborate their own peace plan to reduce military tension, provide for the return of refugees and internally displaced persons, foster economic cooperation, and pursue a political settlement of the Abkhazia conflict," the U.S. Department of State said.
The statement does not contain a call for Tbilisi to sign a treaty on the non-use of force - something, which is part of almost every statement made by the Russian Foreign Ministry on Georgia's conflict zones.
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