Georgia snaps ties with Russia, woos US

Georgia broke diplomatic relations with Russia on Friday and made new pushes for EU and US support for pressure on Moscow to withdraw its troops.

Diplomatic hostilities increased amid allegations of an ethnic cleansing campaign against Georgians in Russian-controlled areas of Georgia's disputed South Ossetia region.

"Georgia is cutting diplomatic ties with the Russian Federation," Deputy Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze said on Friday. "In such situations, Russian diplomats will have to leave Georgia."

A Georgian foreign ministry spokeswoman said the diplomats will leave Moscow within days, but that consular relations, important for the hundreds of thousands of Georgians living in Russia, will be maintained.

The break came three weeks after Russian troops poured into Georgia, seizing control of two pro-Moscow separatist areas and also swathes of undisputed territory.

Although a French-brokered ceasefire agreement requires both sides to withdraw troops to pre-war positions, Russian forces remain widely deployed.

The Kremlin on Tuesday recognised South Ossetia and another rebel region, Abkhazia, as independent states, provoking outcry in Western capitals. With its military helpless in the face of Russian firepower, Georgia is stepping up diplomatic efforts.

A key venue will be the emergency European Union summit in Brussels on Monday.

"Georgia expects political and economic aid from the upcoming EU summit," said Reintegration Minister Temur Yakobashvili, who will be attending, along with the Prime Minister. He also called for "measures that will stop Russia."

However, the European Union is not expected to impose sanctions on Russia, which French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner had said was being considered.

Georgian officials also worked their connections in the United States, which is its main backer. Georgia's parliament speaker, David Bakradze, met with Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama at his party's convention in Denver, Colorado.

Moscow rejects accusations that it violated international law and says its military was only protecting people in Abkhazia and South Ossetia who hold Russian passports. However, new reports emerged Friday of serious human rights violations in South Ossetia.

The Council of Europe's human rights commissioner, Thomas Hammarberg, said that ethnic Georgian villages in the region were empty and badly damaged.

Human Rights Watch said new satellite images obtained by the United Nations and researchers clearly proved arson and ethnic cleansing campaigns against the Georgian population in South Ossetia.