President George W. Bush on Thursday reassured Ukraine and Lithuania of his strong commitment to back fellow former Soviet republic Georgia in its conflict with Russia, the White House said. Bush emphasized U.S. “solidarity” with Georgia in conversations with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and Litthuanian President Valdas Adamkus, who have denounced Moscow's actions, said spokeswoman Dana Perino. “All the leaders stressed the importance of standing by a sovereign free Georgia and its territorial integrity, and agreed on the need for Russia to stop the violence, abide by the ceasefire, and withdraw its forces,” Perino told reporters. The spokeswoman bluntly dismissed a statement from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the world can “forget about” Georgian territorial integrity. “Our position on Georgia's territorial integrity is not going to change, no matter what anybody says, and so I would consider that bluster coming from the foreign minister of Russia. We will ignore it,” she said. According to Perino, it was too early to be sure that Russia was abiding by its ceasefire agreement, though she expressed hope that it was. She also warned Russia, whose forces have reportedly blockaded the town of Gori, that “we expect that our humanitarian aid would be allowed to get in by air, land, or sea.” Bush is heading to his Texas home on Friday and will meet there with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to hear about her trip to France and Georgia and discuss the situation with top national security aides in a telephone conference call on Saturday, Perino said. Amid international anger at Russia's behavior, Perino would not rule out steps like suspending the NATO-Russia council, boycotting the 2014 Olympics in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi, or preventing Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO). “All of those issues that you mention are certainly ones that people are going to be talking about, all around the world,” Perino said. But “right now, we're focused on making sure that we can get the cease-fire in place and cemented so that we could protect innocent life,” she said, referring to diplomatic efforts led by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
