The US Vice-President Dick Cheney reiterated the US demand for Russia to respect Georgia's "independence and territorial integrity" after Moscow established official diplomatic relations with the separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Speaking after talks in Rome with Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, Mr Cheney said: "The international community is united in deploring Russia's military action and condemning its unilateral efforts to alter by force of arms internationally recognised boundaries."

Mr Berlusconi, who is close to Vladimir Putin, the Russian Prime Minister, has sought to act as mediator between Russia and the West over the Georgian crisis to "avoid a return to the Cold War". Mr Cheney, who arrived in Rome at the weekend from a tour of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan showed no sign of irritation over Italy's "soft" stand towards Russia.

Instead he praised Mr Berlusconi's staunch alliance with Washington, saying the Italian leader was a "strong man who accepts the responsiblities of leadership...We appreciate his wisdom." Mr Cheney added: "I spoke of the Georgian border which has been violated; Russia's Western border on the other hand has never been safer than it is today. That safety is the result of success across Europe in building prosperous democracies, as nations are part of a translatlantic partnership, a community of values that is committed to peace and threatens no one."

On Monday Mr Cheney said, after talks with President Napolitano, that Moscow must not be allowed to dominate energy supplies to Europe. Italy is heavily reliant on imported energy imports and Eni, the energy company, has joined the South Stream project with Russia's Gazprom to build a new gas pipeline.

Mr Cheney has also found time for sightseeing, visiting Orvieto and Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli as well as lunching at a restaurant in the picturesque Rome district of Trastevere, where he was greeted with boos and shouts of "Viva Obama" by some bystanders.

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