Russian forces carried off crates and equipment in trucks and helicopters from the port and airport of the western Georgian town of Poti early today, according to witnesses.

France, mediating between Russia and Georgia in the nine-day-old confrontation, said Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had declared he would sign a ceasefire pact that would pave the way for a withdrawal of Russian forces.

One witness at the airport of Poti, a small oil shipment port, said two helicopters landed with Russian troops who immediately secured the perimeter. They ordered staff to stand at their stations while they checked the area for Georgian forces.

There were no Georgian troops so they moved into the terminal buildings.

"They carried out everything they could take," a local resident, Tengiz Khukhia, told Reuters. "They loaded it onto the helicopters and took it straight away."

A similar action occurred at the port itself.

A Reuters correspondent saw about 50 Russian soldiers arrive in trucks accompanied by two armoured personnel carriers.

He said they went into the buildings and came out with a very large crate, carried by seven or eight men.

Other small groups of soldiers entered administrative buildings and came out with boxes, crates and equipment that were loaded onto the trucks and driven off, said cameraman Lasha Berulava.

Russian tanks and troops have been seen in the Black Sea port since Thursday, but it has been unclear what they are doing there. The terms of a ceasefire would likely involve their withdrawal from the area.

A simmering conflict between Georgia and Russia erupted into war more than a week ago, when Tbilisi launched an assault to retake the rebel province of South Ossetia, prompting a huge counter-offensive from Moscow.