Cheney supports Georgia, slams Russia

US Vice President Dick Cheney yesterday vowed to stand by Georgia in its showdown with Russia, calling Moscow's military push into the ex-Soviet state an illegitimate act that cast doubt on its reliability.

Mr Cheney, one of Moscow's harshest critics, is the highest ranking US official to visit Georgia since Tbilisi tried to retake the breakaway region of South Ossetia by force in early August and was overwhelmed by the Russian military.

His typically strong comments may rile the Kremlin which has accused Washington of fuelling tensions by emboldening Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, a US-educated lawyer with close ties to President George W. Bush's administration.

"After your nation won its freedom in the Rose Revolution, America came to the aid of this courageous young democracy," Mr Cheney told reporters, referring to the peaceful revolution in 2003 which brought Mr Saakashvili to power.

"We are doing so again as you work to overcome an invasion of your sovereign territory and an illegitimate, unilateral attempt to change your country's borders by force that has been universally condemned by the free world," Mr Cheney said, standing next to Mr Saakashvili on his first visit to Tbilisi.

Russian officials did not respond to the criticism from Mr Cheney and have been dismissive about his presence in the region. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday he was not paying much attention to Mr Cheney's trip.

Mr Cheney, on a tour of US allies in the region that started in ðAzerbaijan and continued in Ukraine late yesterday, said Russia's actions had cast "grave doubt" on its intentions and reliability as a partner in the region and internationally.

Azerbaijan and Georgia are links in the chain of a Western-backed energy corridor bypassing Russia which the West fears could be in jeopardy following the Kremlin's military thrust into Georgia.

The Kremlin subsequently recognised South Ossetia and a second rebel region, Abkhazia, as independent states, drawing condemnation from Washington and Europe.