Russia ‘ends Georgia operation’

Russia has ended its military operations in Georgia, the Kremlin is claiming. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev today called for an end to the fighting in South Ossetia, saying that peace had been "restored".

Medvedev, who made the announcement shortly before meeting French president Nicolas Sarkozy, said Georgia - "the aggressor" - had been "punished" after sustaining "considerable losses". "Its armed forces have been disorganised," he added.

However there are no signs of imminent talks between the two nations.

Meanwhile officials in the Netherlands have confirmed that a Dutch cameraman was among those killed in Gori, which was bombed by Russian warplanes.

Yesterday the United States stepped up pressure on Russia, accusing the Kremlin of planning the invasion. President George W Bush called the actions "unacceptable", and urged Russia to "reverse the course that it appears to be on".

President Bush claimed he had evidence that the Kremlin planned to bomb Tbilisi. If such an attack was carried out, he said, it "would represent a dramatic and brutal escalation of the conflict in Georgia."