WASHINGTON — The Bush administration and its European allies, stung by Russia's formal recognition of two separatist Georgian enclaves, faced new pressure Tuesday to strike back diplomatically and politically against the Kremlin's widening move to assert its power in the Caucasus.
U.S. officials, who have shunned a military response, did not publicly specify available options. But privately, they cited the possibility of excluding Russia from a number of international institutions, such as the World Trade Organization. They also could try to pressure Moscow through economic measures that pinch the wallets or limit the mobility of Russia's wealthy elite and middle class, including restrictions on travel to the West.
Leading Western European members of the old Cold War coalition reached out Tuesday to reassure former Soviet republics following Moscow's recognition of the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, in Estonia, said the Russian move "contradicts the principle of territorial integrity." British Foreign Minister David Miliband planned a visit to Ukraine today.
Meanwhile, a U.S. military official confirmed that the Coast Guard cutter Dallas would not unload supplies in the Georgian port of Poti, but denied that the change in U.S. plans resulted from warnings by Russia.
Instead, the Pentagon is avoiding Poti because Navy officials are unsure of conditions at the port following reports of ships sunk by Russian munitions that could impede access, the official said.
"The decision not to go to Poti was based on operational considerations, including our own lack of knowledge of conditions at the port after the Russians took it over," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity when discussing planning efforts.
The Russian recognition of the separatist Georgian republics came in a pair of decrees by President Dmitry Medvedev, who said on national television that the step had become necessary because it was clear that the people of the enclaves could no longer live peacefully with the Georgians around them after Georgian forces intervened in South Ossetia this month.
"This is not an easy choice, but it is the only way to save the lives of the people," said Medvedev, who acted one day after the Russian parliament unanimously voted to accept the regions' requests for independence. Medvedev later told a Russian television station that Moscow was willing to risk a new Cold War, and that it was the West's choice whether to loosen its ties.
