ROME, Sept 9: US Vice-President Dick Cheney said here on Tuesday that the world is united in deploring Russia’s conduct in Georgia and that the former Soviet republic’s border has been “violated”.

“The international community is united in deploring Russia’s military action and in condemning its unilateral efforts to alter by force of arms Georgia’s internationally recognized boundaries,” Cheney said after talks with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Their meeting came a day after Russia pledged anew to withdraw troops from parts of Georgia but also planned to keep a hefty military presence in South Ossetia and Abkhazia and began formal diplomatic ties with the two breakaway areas.

“I spoke of the Georgian border which has been violated; Russia’s western border on the other hand has never been safer than it is today,” Cheney added.

“That safety is the result of success across Europe in building prosperous democracies, as nations are part of a translatlantic partnership, a community of values that is committed to peace and threatens no one.” Italy has aimed to mediate between its western allies and Russia in the wake of the conflict, which flared on Aug 8 when Russian troops entered Georgia to push back a Georgian offensive to retake the rebel enclave of South Ossetia.

Cheney arrived in Rome on Sunday after a tour of former Soviet republics Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine.

Italy has urged the West not to isolate Russia while at the same time calling on Moscow to comply with a truce pact demanding a pullout of Russian troops deep inside Georgian territory.—AFP