Georgian officials said the fighting was the result of aggression by Russian forces and their proxies in South Ossetia, which declared independence in the early 1990s and is home to a large number of Russian citizens.

Western officials have expressed alarm at the violence, with fears growing that an all-out war between Russia and Georgia could drag in other nations, and force the United States to decide how much support to give Georgia, an ally in the region.

About 130 U.S. soldiers are in Georgia as part of ongoing efforts to help train units there, according to the Pentagon.

In Beijing, President Bush said the fighting was "a dangerous escalation" and pointedly called for Russia to end its bombings and support peace efforts launched by Europe and the United States.

"Georgia is a sovereign nation and its territorial integrity must be respected," Bush said. "We have urged an immediate halt to the violence and a stand-down by all troops."

Saakashvili, who is close to the Bush administration, accused the Russians of a widespread bombing campaign that has included towns, military bases and a seaport far outside of South Ossetia. Among the towns was Gori, between Tbilisi and South Ossetia, where a Russian bombing run reportedly hit residential apartments and killed dozens footage from the scene showed dead bodies, bloody and twisted, sprawled across the ground.

Asked about Russian airstrikes in the conversation with reporters, Lavrov said "I'm not here to justify anything" and added that any sites in the country that were connected with attacks on Russia's military or civilian populations are "not safe and they should know this."

It was not clear how far the two sides were willing to go with the fight and it was equally as unclear how they might draw back.

The Russians are publicly saying that their forces on the ground are part of a peacekeeping mission, aimed at maintaining the boundaries of South Ossetia, which is just south of the Russian border. In order for the fighting to stop, they say, Georgia must withdraw its troops from the area and sign a binding non-aggression pact—steps that seemed unlikely.

The Georgians assert that Russia has violated their sovereignty by sending in troops to augment the small peacekeeping units, essentially invading their country in an act of war, and called for the soldiers to leave immediately—which also seemed unlikely to happen soon.

Georgian officials say the Kremlin has for years deliberately set conditions in both South Ossetia and Abkhazia, funding the rebel governments and giving Russian passports to residents there, which it knew would lead to an eventual incursion.

The conflict is rooted in sharp geopolitical tensions between Russia and the West.