TBILISI, Dec 5: US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called for Russia to withdraw its troops in Georgia after he arrived to show support for the strategic nation’s new leaders less than two weeks after they took power.

“Russia should fulfil its commitments under the Istanbul accords to withdraw Russian forces from Georgia,” Rumsfeld said at a press conference after meeting with interim president Nino Burjanadze.

“That has been the interest and desire of the government of Georgia,” he said.

Under accords reached in Istanbul in 1999, Russia agreed to close two of its bases in Georgia by 2001 and begin talks on pulling out from two others. Negotiations of the withdrawal from the last two bases have been ongoing for the past three years.

Russia still has some 8,000 troops in Georgia that are covered by the agreement and Russian military leaders have said it would be at least another decade before they are withdrawn.

Rumsfeld is the first senior US official to visit the Caucasus nation since president Eduard Shevardnadze was forced from power after mass protests over a parliamentary election that the opposition said were rigged in government’s favor.

His visit comes at a time when Moscow and Washington have renewed their Cold War-style rivalry for influence over Georgia, a country seen in the West as a crucial gateway for the export of oil from the nearby Caspian Sea to world markets.

The battle for influence has gained urgency since Shevardnadze resigned and a young, pro-Western leadership replaced him.

Russia has hinted that Tbilisi would be wise to restore its relations with Moscow following the resignation and hosted leaders of Georgia’s two separatist and one semi-autonomous regions, prompting warnings from US officials.

On Tuesday US Secretary of State Colin Powell warned Russia at a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) against supporting “breakaway elements seeking to weaken the territorial integrity of Georgia.”

Burjanadze, speaking at Rumsfeld’s side on Friday, also brought up the concerns.

And she made clear that Georgia would continue looking westward. “The US remains a strategic partner for us and our bid for NATO membership is of vital importance,” she said.

Said Rumsfeld: “And certainly we stand ready to assist Georgia in the period ahead.”

—AFP