The world waited anxiously today for the promised start of a Russian pullout of combat troops from Georgia, but there was no sign on the ground of any movement.

With a French-brokered ceasefire holding, President Medvedev of Russia yesterday assured his French counterpart, Nicolas Sarkozy, that Russian troops would "begin withdrawing" from Georgian territory today.

But a Georgian interior ministry spokesman said today: “Unfortunately, we see no signs that the Russians are starting to pull out or even preparing to withdraw from Georgia."

Tony Halpin, a Times correspondent, said that Russian troops were still manning checkpoints on the road from Tbilisi to the strategic town of Gori near the border with the disputed enclave of South Ossetia, where the conflict erupted 10 days ago.

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"All of the Russian checkpoints towards Gori are still there," he said. "They have not retreated one metre from where they were yesterday, despite expectations that they would do so."

In Tbilisi, Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, assured President Saakashvili that Nato remained ready to give membership to the ex-Soviet republic, as promised at a Nato summit in April, despite the conflict with Russia. Mrs Merkel voiced strong support for Georgia’s bid to join the military alliance, saying:“Georgia will become a member of Nato if it wants to - and it does want to."

As Western powers tried to ratchet up pressure on Moscow to withdraw its forces, Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, warned Russia that its reputation was "in tatters".

Russian troops and tanks have controlled a wide swath of Georgia for days, including the country’s main east-west highway, on which Gori sits. Russia's RIA-Novosti news agency reported today that some Russian military vehicles were heading out of the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali toward Russia, but there was no official confirmation.

Russia is certain to keep some troops in South Ossetia - which wants to separate from Georgia - and the region’s leader, Eduard Kokoity, today asked Russia to establish a permanent base there, the agency said.

Top American officials said Washington would rethink its relationship with Moscow after its military drive deep into its much smaller neighbour as they tried to pressure Russia to speed up its withdrawal.

“I think there needs to be a strong, unified response to Russia to send the message that this kind of behaviour, characteristic of the Soviet period, has no place in the 21st century,” Robert Gates, the US Defence Secretary, said.

But neither Mr Gates nor Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, would be specific about what punitive actions the United States or the international community might take.

Dr Rice, who was flying to Europe for talks today with Nato allies about what message the West should send to Russia, said Russia could not use “disproportionate force" against its neighbour and still be welcomed into the halls of international institutions. “It’s not going to happen that way,” she said. “Russia will pay a price.”

The war broke out after Georgia launched a military barrage to try to retake control of South Ossetia, a Russian-backed separatist region that split off in the early 1990s. Russia had peacekeeping forces in South Ossetia, and sent in thousands of reinforcements immediately, driving out Georgian forces. Georgian troops also were driven out of the small portion they had held of another separatist region, the Black Sea province of Abkhazia.

Russian troops then took positions deep into Georgia itself, including Gori, about 50 miles (90 kilometers) west of the capital, and in the Black Sea port of Poti. They also began a campaign to disable the Georgian military, destroying or carting away large caches of military equipment.

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