Cheney to visit Georgia, Ukraine

US Vice President Dick Cheney will visit Georgia early next month, the White House said yesterday, in an effort to help shore up the small but vital ally after its war with Russia.

At the request of President George W. Bush, Mr Cheney will meet Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and also visit Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Italy during his trip, which will begin on September 2.

"The President felt it was important to have the Vice President consult with allies in the region on our common security interests," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said in Texas, where Mr Bush was spending two weeks at his ranch. Mr Cheney is due to meet President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Viktor Yushchenko, the President of Ukraine, who has pressed to join the Nato alliance quickly after the Russia-Georgia crisis that unnerved many former Soviet republics.

Russia and Georgia, which hosts two major energy pipelines, went to war after Tbilisi tried to retake the breakaway pro-Russian Georgrian province of South Ossetia, prompting an overwhelming counter-attack from Moscow.

Russian troops moved into Georgia beyond South Ossetia and a second separatist region of Abkhazia, leading to criticism from the US and others that Moscow had gone too far.