"The United States calls for an immediate ceasefire to the armed conflict in Georgia's region of South Ossetia," Rice said in a statement. "We call on Russia to cease attacks on Georgia by aircraft and missiles, respect Georgia's territorial integrity and withdraw its ground combat forces from Georgian soil."
Rice also said Russia should respect Georgian sovereignty and agree to international mediation to end the crisis that threatens to engulf the volatile region. "We urgently seek Russia's support of these efforts," she said.
Rice said she and other senior US officials had been in touch with "the parties" to the conflict but did not identify to whom they had spoken. In Moscow, Russia's foreign ministry said Rice had talked to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Lavrov told her that Georgia must be convinced to withdraw its forces from South Ossetia, it said.
US-allied Georgia launched a surprise military offensive to retake South Ossetia earlier yesterday, reportedly killing hundreds of people and triggering a ferocious counterattack from Russia, which has sent tanks across the border and reportedly bombed Georgian air bases.
In Beijing, White House press secretary Dana Perino urged "all parties, Georgians, South Ossetians and Russians, to de-escalate the tension and avoid conflict" and "restart their dialogue." She said Bush was getting regular updates on the situation.
A US official in Washington identified the envoy as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza, a specialist on the region, who will be traveling soon to Tbilisi and elsewhere with European diplomats in a bid to defuse the situation.
Pentagon officials said Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has reached out to his counterparts in Russia and Georgia, but has not yet connected with them.
Vasil Sikharulidze, Georgia's ambassador to Washington, said in an interview, "We are asking our friends, and the United States among them, to somehow to try to mediate and try to persuade Russia to stop this military aggression and invasion of Georgia."
At a luncheon for world leaders in Beijing, Bush talked to Putin about the fighting, a White House spokesman said, without giving details.
