Sochi, Russia - Russian President Dimitry Medvedev Friday described Poland's decision to go ahead with the stationing of parts of a US anti-missile shield on its territory as "sad for Europe," but simultaneously spoke out against "dramatizing" the conflict.

Following talks on the situation in Georgia with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Medvedev said further talks were needed.

The decision taken Thursday by Poland, and earlier by the Czech Republic, to host elements of the US shield, "has the Russian Federation as its target," Medvedev said.

Moscow, Aug 15 : Russian ambassador to Great Britain Yury Fedotov has said that London’s efforts to politicise the “death” case of Alexander Litvinenko’s a former officer of the Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), had resulted in deterioration of UK-Russia relations.

“It is precisely the Litvinenko case, or primarily London''s efforts to politicize it that have resulted in a visible aggravation of Russian-British relations. Meanwhile, there is a practical way out of the present situation that has been tested in international legal practices,” he said in an interview with the Interfax.

Washington, Aug 15 : Russia’s military offensive into Georgia has jolted Washington’s relationship with Moscow, senior Bush Administration officials have said.

The offensive has forced a wholesale reassessment of American dealings with Russia and jeopardizing talks on everything from halting Iran’s nuclear ambitions to reducing strategic arsenals to cooperation on missiles defences

Even as the conflict between Russia and Georgia appeared to ease on Thursday, Secretary of Defence Robert M. Gates said the Russian attack had forced a fundamental rethinking of the administration’s effort to forge “an ongoing and long-term strategic dialogue with Russia.”

Tbilisi - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was en route to Tbilisi on Friday, as Russia's military continued to occupy two Georgian provinces despite a ceasefire agreement obliging them to leave.

Rice was set to meet with members of the Georgian leadership to discuss the implementation of a ceasefire plan for the region, and humanitarian aid to Georgia being delivered by the US Air Force and Navy.

US President George W. Bush's decision to send Georgia support aboard US military aircraft and warships has turned the Ossetia conflict into an clear face-off between the Kremlin and Washington, despite claims by both sides they only want peace in the region.

Berlin - The conflict between Georgia and Russia over South Ossetia is to top the agenda when German Chancellor Angela Merkel travels to the Black Sea resort of Sochi Friday for talks with Russian President Dimitry Medvedev, German media reported.

The row over the separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia would be the "sole theme of the meeting," the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said, even though the meeting had been planned well before the simmering conflict erupted into open warfare.

Amsterdam - International human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HWR) told international media on Friday it has evidence RTL television cameraman Stan Storimans was killed by Russian cluster bombs, despite an international ban on such bombs.

Storimans was killed in the Georgian city of Gori while reporting about the conflict over South Ossetia between Georgia and Russia.

Two other journalists, Dutch Jeroen Akkermans and Israeli Zadok Yehezkeli, sustained injuries in the same incident.

HRW says it spoke with several eye witnesses and documented video and photo material of the damage caused by the bombing that killed seven.

In May, more than 100 countries banned the use of cluster bombs at a convention in Ireland.