Moscow - Russian President Dmitri Medvedev accused the United States on Saturday of delivering weapons to Georgia under the cover of humanitarian aid.

Speaking at an executive committee session of Russia's largely advisory State Council, Medvedev said the West should stop arming Georgia and support Russia's position in the South Caucasus conflict.

"It would be interesting to see how (the United States) would react if we used battleships to bring aid to the Caribbean islands recently hit by hurricanes," Medvedev was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

Osnabrueck, Germany - Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has called on Germany to rethink the Baltic Sea pipeline project with Russia in light of the ongoing crisis over Russia's military presence in Georgia, German media reported Saturday.

Referring to a plan by a Russian-German consortium to build a 1,200-kilometre pipeline to supply the Europe Union (EU) with natural gas from Russia energy giant Gazprom, Tusk said Europe should not increase its dependence on Russia with this project.

Moscow, Poti, Georgia - Russia's foreign ministry on Friday ruled out a military response to the increased US presence in the Black Sea as a US warship was due to arrive in Georgia.

The USS Mount Whitney warship is the third US vessel to dock in Georgia's Black Sea port of Poti to deliver supplies as part of a 1- billion-dollar aid package.

Russia's powerful Premier Vladimir Putin had previously threatened a military response to the build-up of NATO's naval fleet off the coast of Georgia.

Six NATO vessels, including the three US ships, now patrol those waters. The Mount Whitney was set to arrive at 1400 GMT.

Kiev/Moscow - US Vice President Dick Cheney shook hands with Ukrainian leaders Friday in a short tour of strategic allies in the region amid the fall-out from the brief war between Georgia and Russia.

Cheney was meeting with President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in the throes of the latest domestic feud between pro-Western and Russian-leaning blocs in the former Soviet state.

Berlin -

Washington, Sept. 5: U. S. President George W. Bush is reportedly ready to punish Russia for its invasion of Georgia by canceling a once-celebrated deal for civilian nuclear cooperation between the two countries.

According to The Telegraph, the White House is planning to undertake this largely symbolic move, and it is expected that action could come quickly, within days at the most.

However, officials see no need to wait until Vice President Dick Cheney returns next Wednesday from an overseas trip to three former Soviet republics.