US: Russia ready to sign truce deal

The news on Saturday came a day after Russia is reported to have made its deepest incursion into Georgian territory since the conflict began last week.

Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said in a phone call to Rice after she left Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, by plane that Moscow would implement the agreement as long as it could see the signature of Mikheil Saakashvili, the Georgian president, on the document first.

Saakashvili earlier signed the pact, brokered by Nicholas Sarkozy, the French president, on behalf of the European Union, following five hours of talks with Rice, Al Jazeera online reported.

Hundreds of Russian soldiers and more than a dozen armoured personnel carriers are reported to have reached a village 40km away from Tbilisi - the furthest push by Moscow into the country since Georgia launched its attack on the breakaway region of South Ossetia on 7 August.

Saakashvili said Russian tanks had also reached two other towns - Khashari and Borjomi - in central Georgia, which has not been independently confirmed.

 George Bush, the US president, has denounced Russian's military action in Georgia as being "completely unacceptable to the free nations of the world" and accused Moscow of "bullying and intimidation".

Saakashvili said in a joint news conference with Rice in Tibilisi: "We will never, ever surrender, give up our freedom and territory, we will definitely get rid of these invaders for good. I am totally convinced of that."

He also criticised the West for not granting Georgia Nato membership earlier this year, saying Russia had stepped up its military presence in the region following the decision.

He later told Al Jazeera that in not coming to Georgia's aid "the West made a great miscalculation ... people underestimated the threat".

Russian troops entered Georgia following Tbsili's August 7 offensive to retake South Ossetia, which achieved de  facto independence from Georgia in the 1990s during the breakup of  the Soviet Union.

Moscow, which firmly backs South Ossetia and Abkhazia, has issued Russian passports to most people in the two territories.