BAKU, Sept 3: The United States and Russia squared off over the Caucasus and Central Asia on Wednesday as US Vice-President Dick Cheney said Washington had an “abiding” interest in vital regions once dominated by Moscow.

Russia and Georgia, meanwhile, virtually shut down diplomatic exchanges, with Moscow suspending visas for Georgian citizens and saying it would pull troops out of Georgia only when a French-brokered peace plan was fully implemented.

Speaking in the oil-rich former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, Mr Cheney said: “President Bush has sent me here with the clear and simple message for the people of Azerbaijan and the entire region.

“The United States has a deep and abiding interest in your well-being and security.”

Mr Cheney, the most senior US official to visit the Caucasus region since Russia and Georgia fought a brief war last month, said access to energy resources there and in Central Asia was a top concern for Washington.

“Energy security is essential to us all and the matter is becoming increasingly urgent,” Mr Cheney said after meeting Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

“We must work with Azerbaijan and other countries in the Caucasus and Central Asia on additional routes for energy exports,” he said.

US officials simultaneously announced a one billion-dollar aid package for Georgia following the conflict with Russia.

Mr Cheney’s comments came a day after Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin sealed a new gas pipeline deal in Uzbekistan.

They were a clear signal that Washington did not intend to allow Moscow to regain the unchallenged control over the politics and natural resources of the Caucasus and Central Asian regions.

Cheney was due to travel on Thursday to Georgia for a meeting with that country’s beleaguered, US-backed President Mikheil Saakashvili, a leader that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev referred to Monday as a “political corpse”.

Russia and Georgia closed down diplomatic exchanges on Wednesday, although the parliament in Tbilisi formally lifted the state of war in most of the country that was declared when the hostilities broke out last month.

Nato separately announced that its chief would lead a delegation to Tbilisi later this month.

“The Russian embassy in Georgia is no longer functioning. The consular section is closed as well, pending future directives from Moscow,” embassy spokesman Alexander Savonov said in Tbilisi.

In Moscow, Georgia’s charge d’affaires Givi Shugarov told Interfax news agency that his embassy had also ceased diplomatic functions, though the consulate was still working to serve Georgians living in Russia.

Russia’s foreign ministry said it had stopped issuing visas to Georgian citizens.

Russia sent tanks and troops into Georgia after a Georgian offensive on Aug 7 to retake the breakaway region of South Ossetia.

Moscow withdrew most of its forces under a French-brokered ceasefire, but thousands of Russian troops that Moscow terms “peacekeepers” remain in the two rebel regions and in a buffer zone.

Moscow announced on Wednesday that 71 Russian soldiers died in the conflict.Cheney was to be followed to Georgia next week by Nato chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, who could discuss aid for the country, alliance diplomats in Brussels said.

The visit, on Sept 15-16, was planned before the conflict erupted, a diplomat stressed.

But the delegation of ambassadors from the 26-nation Nato may discuss the possibility of providing humanitarian and infrastructure reconstruction aid, the diplomat said.

It is also to evaluate the state and needs of the Georgian army after the conflict.

The West has been infuriated by Russia’s actions in Georgia. The European Union this week called off talks on a new EU-Russia accord until Russia withdraws its troops, but did not impose sanctions.—AFP