The United States Navy arrived off the coast of Georgia yesterday as the diplomatic row intensified over the continued presence of Russian forces in the country. The warship USS McFaul delivered 55 tonnes of humanitarian aid at the Black Sea port of Batumi, 50 miles (80km) south of Russian “peacekeeping” troops dug in around the city of Poti. Two more ships are expected to join the guided missile destroyer in a display of the determination of the US to support Georgia.

US officials said that their mission was to provide supplies for refugees from the conflict over South Ossetia. David Kezerashvili, the Georgian Defence Minister, said, however, that the presence of the vessels “means we are not alone”.

The growing American presence prompted the deputy chief of Russia’s general staff to complain that Nato was using humanitarian aid as a cover for a build-up of naval forces.

“I don’t think that this will help stabilise the situation in the region,” Colonel-General Anatoli Nogovitsyn, said.

Mounting international frustration at the refusal by Russia to withdraw from Georgia prompted President Sarkozy to call a summit of European Union leaders last night. France holds the rotating six-month EU presidency.

The meeting on September 1 would consider EU relations with Russia as well as aid to Georgia. Bernard Kouchner, the French Foreign Minister, told the Kremlin that a summit would be held if Russian forces remained in Georgia. Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, said that ties with Moscow could be scaled back if its troops were not withdrawn. “We can’t just go back to normal [as it is],” she said.

It was also reported last night that the US was set to put a civil nuclear deal with Russia on hold, with a Congressional staffer describing the agreement as “dead”.

The Kremlin insisted that its army had withdrawn but that peacekeepers were permitted to remain under the terms of a ceasefire negotiated by President Sarkozy. Russian troops are manning checkpoints around Poti, 300 kilometres west of South Ossetia, and along sections of the main highway leading towards the city of Gori.

Russia argued that it had the right to establish buffer zones around the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as part of additional security measures permitted under the ceasefire. France said that the measures related only to South Ossetia.

The West is growing increasingly suspicious of Russian intentions, fearing moves to partition Georgia, annex the two regions and oust the democratic regime of Mikheil Saakashvili, the President.

The two sides continued to disagree yesterday after a telephone conversation between Mr Sarkozy and Dimitri Medvedev, the Russian President.

A French statement said that they had agreed on the need for an “international mechanism” to provide security around South Ossetia. Moscow rebuffed this claim and said that while it was willing to cooperate with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe the men had not discussed a withdrawal of Russian forces.

Alexander Lomaia, Georgia’s National Security Council secretary, said that Russian forces set up eight “illegal” checkpoints around South Ossetia, including one close to Gori.

Georgia suffered an economic blow yesterday when a fuel train carrying crude oil from Kazakhstan for export through Poti exploded after apparently hitting a mine on a railway track near Gori. A woman was reported killed and a man injured in two other blasts near the city.

Georgia accused Russia of disrupting the main railway line from Tbilisi to Poti by blowing up a bridge near the village of Kaspi on August 16. The explosion yesterday occurred on an alternative route to Poti.

Irakli Ezugbaia, the director of railways in Georgia, said that other mines had been found on the line. Lado Gurgenidze, the Prime Minister, described the railway as “vital not just for the Georgian economy but for the economy of neighbouring countries”.

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