HOWZAT

A joint delegation from the European Union and the United States was arriving in Tbilisi today to try to broker a ceasefire as international concern and condemnation mounted. The United Nations Security Council is expected to meet for a fourth time over the crisis later today as reports estimated that at least 2,000 people have died since fighting erupted early on Friday.

Russia refused to agree to a ceasefire at a Security Council meeting on Saturday, saying Georgia must withdraw from South Ossetia. Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, said: "The fighting is still going on. The Georgian forces are continuing to be on the South Ossetian territory. All those actions and signals we have seen are not things which would not be conducive to a cease-fire."

Alejandro Wolff, the US Deputy Ambassador, flatly blamed Moscow for the escalation of the fighting. He said: "This is a conflict that is expanding and getting out of control. The proximate cause is the massive escalation perpetrated by outside forces."

Russian jets bombed the Georgian city of Gori, about 50 miles from Tbilisi, on Saturday, killing dozens of people, according to local officials. Georgia also claimed that two Russian battleships were en route to the Black Sea port of Poti, which they said had been "devastated" in a bombing raid by Russian jets on Saturday.

"The Government of Georgia is calling upon the world community to compel Russia to cease its hostilities and withdraw from Georgia immediately. This illegal invasion, which recalls the Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990, poses a serious risk to European stability and to the broader international security system," a spokesman said.

Alexander Lomaia, secretary of the national security council in Tbilisi, said that Russian ships had docked at the port of Ochamchira in Abkhazia. The separatist government in Abkhazia said that its troops had launched attacks on Georgia's military, prompting fears of a widening conflict across the Caucasus.

President Bush demanded "an end to the Russian bombing". The EU also issued a statement expressing "commitment to the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Georgia" and urging Russia to respect Georgia's borders.

People in Tbilisi queued to give blood at clinics to assist the wounded. Many watched news reports on television nervously, but also expressed defiance against Russia. Nana Kobaladze, waiting at one clinic with her sister Maya, said: "We're praying for our soldiers, and we want to give blood in solidarity, that way we're giving them spiritual and physical help."

Russian troops and tanks rolled across the border on Friday after Georgian forces began an assault on South Ossetia, which wants to unite with neighbouring North Ossetia in Russia.

The conflict has brought back dark memories for Georgians of the chaos of the early 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Abkhazia and South Ossetia both broke away from Georgia in bloody wars and the conflicts have remained unresolved for 16 years.

Tensions have soared between Georgia and Russia since April, when Mr Putin sanctioned closer economic ties with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which are not recognised internationally. Most people in the two regions have Russian passports.

Mr Saakashvili came to power pledging to reclaim both regions and has accused Moscow of seeking to annex the territories. The pro-Western government in Tbilisi is convinced that Moscow is using the conflict in a bid to wreck Georgia's bid for membership of Nato when the alliance meets in December.

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