Bush, Rice say Russia must quit Georgia

The U.S. boycotted a third meeting at NATO on Tuesday at which the alliance's governing board, the North Atlantic Council, was to prepare for as-yet unscheduled talks with a Russian delegation called at Moscow's request, officials said.

In addition, a senior defense official said the U.S. has decided to dump a major NATO naval exercise in the North Pacific with Russia that was scheduled to begin Friday. Sailors and vessels from Britain, France, Russia and the U.S. were to take part in the annual Russia-NATO exercise aimed at improving cooperation in maritime security. But the official said there was no way the U.S. could proceed with it in the midst of the Georgian crisis.

The naval exercise began a decade ago and typically involves around 1,000 personnel from the four countries, officials said. The Pentagon also is looking at a variety of ways it could respond to humanitarian needs in Georgia, but officials have not yet made any final decisions.

In the medium term, the United States and its partners in the Group of Seven, or G-7, the club of the world's leading industrialized nations that also includes Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, are debating whether to effectively disband what is known as the G-8, which incorporates Russia, by throwing Moscow out, the officials said.

Discussions also are taking place on whether to revoke or review the May 2007 invitation to Russia to join the 30-member, Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which consists primarily of established European democracies, the officials said, adding that Russia's pending membership in the World Trade Organization might also be affected.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because no decisions have yet been made and consultations with other countries involved were still under way.

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