U.S., allies weigh punishment for Russia

'Dramatic and brutal escalation'
The State Department on Tuesday recommended that all U.S. citizens leave Georgia in a new travel warning, saying the security situation remained uncertain. It said it was organizing a third evacuation convoy to take Americans who want to leave by road to neighboring Armenia. More than 170 American citizens have already left Georgia in two earlier convoys.

Just hours after Bush said in a White House address that the invasion had “substantially damaged Russia’s standing in the world” and demanded an end to what he called Moscow’s “dramatic and brutal escalation” of violence, Medvedev said he had ordered an end to military action.

But Georgia insisted that Russian forces were still bombing and shelling and White House spokesman Tony Fratto said Tuesday it was too early to comment on Medvedev’s move. “We are trying to get an assessment of what a halt means and whether it is taking place, of course,” the spokesman added.

Typifying the administration’s dilemma, a planned late-morning White House briefing by national security adviser Stephen Hadley was postponed “until further notice” due to ongoing developments in Georgia and in Moscow, where Sarkozy was meeting with Russian officials on behalf of the West.

The State Department on Tuesday recommended that all U.S. citizens leave Georgia in a new travel warning, saying the security situation remained uncertain. It said it was organizing a third evacuation convoy to take Americans who want to leave by road to neighboring Armenia.

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