US: Russian patrols violate truce

Russia would violate the ceasefire agreement by setting up checkpoints or permanent facilities in Georgia, the White House said on Saturday as Russian soldiers were seen in the Georgian port city of Poti.

Russian forces manned a checkpoint on the road into Georgia's main Black Sea port on Saturday, signalling the Kremlin's intention to keep a tight grip on Georgia's heartland despite Western criticism.

Georgian forces were once again controlling the country's biggest East-West highway, and a cameraman saw a large column of Russian tanks and armoured cars leave a town near the Black Sea - evidence of Russia's promised pullback.

But the focus was shifting to the buffer zones stretching deep inside Georgia where Russia has said its troops will now maintain a permanent presence.

The Kremlin says it must stay on to prevent further bloodshed, but Georgia and its Western allies says the zones will give Russia a stranglehold over a country that lies on a transit route for energy exports from the Caspian Sea.

"My view is that (the buffer zones) are against the spirit of the ceasefire agreement," Alexander Stubb, Finland's foreign minister and chairman of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, told a Finnish broadcaster.

A reporter in Poti, Georgia's main Black Sea port, said he could see 20 soldiers at a Russian checkpoint at the entrance to the town, 100 metres (yards) back from the road. Up to 1,000 people gathered to protest against the Russian presence.

"Why do they want to take control of Poti? They do not have such a right," said 60-year-old Roland Silagava. "Maybe they want to grab Poti from us. While we are still alive we will not allow them to stay here. If they were our friends they would not do this."

The conflict between Russia and pro-Western Georgia has left the United States, NATO and European Union groping for a response. Beyond freezing NATO's contacts with Russia, the West looks to have little influence over energy powerhouse Russia.