Bush tries to contain conflict in Georgia

The vice president has made his view known as well.

BEIJING (AP) — President Bush sought to contain the explosive conflict in Georgia on Sunday as the White House warned Russia that relations with the U.S. were in jeopardy.

Back in Washington, Vice President Dick Cheney says Russia’s military actions in Georgia “must not go unanswered.”

Cheney spoke Sunday afternoon with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. “The vice president expressed the United States’ solidarity with the Georgian people and their democratically elected government in the face of this threat to Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Cheney’s press secretary, Lee Ann McBride, said.

Cheney told Saakashvili “Russian aggression must not go unanswered, and that its continuation would have serious consequences for its relations with the United States, as well as the broader international community,” McBride said.

The crisis over a breakaway province, South Ossetia, appeared to ebb as Georgian troops began retreating and honoring a cease-fire, a claim Russia disputed. U.S. officials said Moscow was only broadening its retaliation against Georgia for trying to take control of the region.

The sheer scope of Russia’s military response has the Bush administration deeply worried. Russia on Sunday expanded its bombing blitz in areas of Georgia not central to the fighting.

“We have made it clear to the Russians that if the disproportionate and dangerous escalation on the Russian side continues, that this will have a significant long-term impact on U.S.-Russian relations,” deputy national security adviser Jim Jeffrey told reporters.

A Russian official said more than 2,000 people had been killed in South Ossetia since Friday; the figure could not be confirmed independently.

The president was to end his weeklong stay to Asia by attending a baseball game and other events today at the Beijing Olympics. The trip was meant mostly for fun and games — there have been plenty of both. But the fast-moving conflict in Georgia has grabbed his attention.

Bush, pressing international mediation, reached out Sunday to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who heads the European Union. The two agreed on the need for a cease-fire and a respect for Georgia’s integrity, White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.

In Washington, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said the United States must work closely with Europe in condemning Russia’s actions.

“We cannot just go out alone on this and talk and act unilaterally,” said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. “We’ve got to stand together with European allies.”

Georgia, whose troops have been trained by American soldiers, began an offensive to regain control over South Ossetia overnight Friday. In response, Russia, launched overwhelming artillery shelling and air attacks on Georgian troops.