US backs Georgia
Urges Russia pullback
US Vice-President Joe Biden pledged Washington's strong support for Georgia a year after its war with Russia, urging Moscow to abide by a ceasefire and pull back its troops from two rebel regions.
But in a shift from the uncritical support offered to Tbilisi by former President George W. Bush, Mr Biden balanced his remarks with criticism of Georgia's record on democracy and media freedom under pro-US President Mikheil Saakashvili.
"We the United States stand by you on your journey to a secure, free, democratic and once-again united Georgia," Mr Biden said in an emotional speech to the Georgian Parliament.
As tensions between Moscow and Tbilisi rise before the anniversary of the war, Mr Biden recalled hearing artillery bombardments as he sat on a rooftop with Saakashvili last year.
"I know there is some concern, and I understand it, that our efforts to reset relations with Russia will come at the expense of Georgia. Let me be clear: they have not, they will not and they cannot," he said.
Mr Biden called on the world not to follow Russia in recognising Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states, but told Georgian lawmakers that there was "no military option" for winning the two regions back.
Washington is sensitive to criticism that the Bush administration overlooked Mr Saakashvili's failings on democracy and may have allowed Tbilisi to draw the wrong conclusions about possible US backing before it launched the August 2008 assault on South Ossetia that triggered Russia's invasion.
"Your Rose Revolution will only be complete when government is transparent, accountable and fully participatory," Mr Biden said, referring to the uprising which brought Mr Saakashvili to power and opposition fears that its democratic ideals have been lost.