East-West struggle drives conflict

The West, in particular America, has stoked the regional fire. At the NATO summit in Bucharest this year it pressed for Georgia and Ukraine’s membership of the alliance. The move was blocked by the Europeans but NATO did give a commitment to offer the two countries membership later. That move was seen in Moscow as a challenge to its dominance in what it calls the "near abroad," the former Soviet republics.

Since then Russia has made clear in word and deed that it will do anything to prevent NATO’s expansion on its western and southern flanks.

Georgian conflict puts U.S. in middle

"The conflict has potentially serious implications for Russian-U.S. relations, and Russian-Western relations," said Dmitri Trenin, deputy director of the Carnegie Center in Moscow. "The Russians are watching intently what the U.S. will do, as an indication of how the U.S. will pursue its relationship with Russia going forward."

U.S. voices its concerns as Georgia-Russia conflict spreads to Abhazia

Russian warplanes on Saturday bombed two villages in the Georgia-controlled part of the Kodori gorge, cutting deep into Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia, prompting the United States to voice its concerns over the "dangerous escalation" of the crisis. Georgia approved state of war for 15 days and called for an "immediate ceasefire."

Georgia says new air attacks hit near capital and key oil pipeline

Overnight, Russian warplanes bombed the Vaziani military base on the outskirts of the Georgian capital and near the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said. He also said two other military bases were hit, and that warplanes bombed the Black Sea port city of Poti, which has a sizable oil shipment facility.