But Russia dismissed the threat as blackmail and said it would not “stand idly by” if sanctions were imposed.

Nino Burdzhanadze, the Speaker of Georgia’s parliament, said that it would ask the Government to impose sanctions, including denying visas to Russian military personnel and restricting the movements of those already in the country.

“If there is no progress in the coming days, parliament will demand that the Government implement our motion,” said Mrs Burdzhanadze — a co- leader of the Rose Revolution that swept a liberal, Western-oriented leader into power in 2003.

President, Saakashvili was given a huge boost on Tuesday when President Bush hailed Georgia as a beacon of liberty in a speech in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.

But relations with Moscow have been strained since the revolution and tensions have grown in recent months as the two sides tried to reach an agreement on two bases close to the border with Turkey. Russia maintains more than 3,000 troops at the bases, which once formed part of the Soviet Union’s significant presence in the Black Sea region. Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, said last month that they had made “real progress” in the negotiations and that Russia could begin withdrawing from the bases this year.

Georgia, however, said that it was not satisfied and President Saakashvili protested by boycotting ceremonies in Moscow to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Georgia, which is seeking to join Nato, had been asking Russia to close the bases by 2008. Russia says it needs at least four years.

In March the Georgian parliament passed a non-binding resolution urging the Government to take steps to force Russia to shut its bases by January 1 next year if talks produced no result by May 15. Parliament is dominated by Mr Saakashvili’s party and Mrs Burdzhanadze is one of his closest allies.

But Russia quickly dismissed her comments. “We will not respond to blackmail . . . but if steps are taken to create a threat to our bases . . . then I can assure you, we will not stand idly by,” Mr Lavrov told the Russian parliament.

A Russian Foreign Ministry suggested that Mrs Burdzhanadze was bluffing. “Talks are under way and we will go ahead with them,” Lev Mironov told Interfax. “Georgia has earlier announced decisions concerning the bases. They have said something like this before.”

Mr Bush revealed that he had raised the issue of the bases with President Putin, who replied that his Government was working to fulfil its obligations under an earlier agreement.

But Mr Bush did not explicitly back Georgia’s position to avoid aggravating tensions with Russia over US influence in the former Soviet Union. In the latest evidence of such friction, Russia’s security chief said yesterday that his agency had uncovered US, British, Kuwaiti and Saudi spying that was being conducted under the cover of non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Nikolai Patrushev, head of the Federal Security Service, also suggested that foreign governments were using NGOs to fund changes of power in former Soviet republics.

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