Russia Warns West Against Backing Georgia's Re-Arming

MOSCOW - Russia warned the West on Monday against rebuilding Georgia's military, deepening a confrontation that has driven relations between Moscow and Washington to their chilliest point since the Cold War.

The warning came as European Union leaders gathered in Brussels for an emergency summit on the Caucasus crisis, weighing how to respond to Russia's recognition of the breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states.

Only Nicaragua has joined Moscow in recognizing the two regions. The United States and Europe have called the move a violation of Georgia's sovereignty and of the French-brokered cease-fire that ended August's five-day war.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the West must choose between "the illusion of supporting the Saakashvili regime" and a working relationship with Moscow. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused the United States of orchestrating the conflict to benefit an unnamed candidate in the presidential election — a charge the White House called absurd.

The standoff has a practical edge: Russia supplies about a quarter of Europe's natural gas, and the fighting closed a key pipeline route and damaged the railroads that carry Caspian oil west through Georgia.

Vice President Dick Cheney is to travel to Georgia and Ukraine this week, a trip Tbilisi will read as a signal of support. U.S. Navy ships have already delivered relief supplies to Georgian ports, watched warily by Russian warships.

Georgia's parliament voted last week to sever diplomatic ties with Moscow, and President Mikhail Saakashvili vowed never to accept the loss of the two regions.

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Associated Press writers contributed to this report.

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